


Surrender The Night

by FantasySwap



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Child Abuse, M/M, Stalking, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-07-18 04:55:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 53,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7300399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasySwap/pseuds/FantasySwap
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank: the shy kid suffering through his mother's abusive relationship alongside her.<br/>Gerard: the teacher that may be able to help him.<br/>Ray: the annoying best friend who steals Frank's pop tarts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Gerard Way was not a sociable person. He did not like to spend his evenings with his friends, or go to parties on Saturday night or go to church on Sunday. He didn't believe in God as such, and parties always seemed like such a waste of time to him. He preferred to spend his time alone, watching TV and nursing a bottle of beer, or perhaps with Mikey, his younger brother.

When Gerard first became a teacher, he invisaged himself standing in front of a bunch of wide eyed students, all listening avidly to whatever he had to teach them. He imagined himself inspiring kids to learn new things and do well in life. He didn't imagine himself becoming depressed at the age of twenty five. He did not imagine himself needing at least four beers a night, washed down with a couple of - prescribed, don't worry - sleeping medication pills just to get through the day. That's why weekends were so special to Gerard, they were like gold dust, something precious to be treasured, because they were the only times he didn't have to worry about what other people thought about him. Kids could be so cruel; he knew that better than anyone.

That is why he found himself so annoyed when, at 10pm on Saturday night, someone rung his doorbell. He was just about to settle down on his comfy sofa in front of the television with a six pack of beer and semi-warm, leftover pizza to watch a horror movie marathon when it rang. And it didn't just ring once either, oh no. At first it was short and shrill, disrupting the silence that had settled over Gerard's house. Then it came back, and this time the button must have been held down because it kept ringing and ringing incessantly. Pretty soon it was replaced by loud, insistant knocking. Gerard got up, sighing and muttering under his breath.

"Alright, alright!" Gerard yelled at his door, hoping in vain that the loud, angry noises would stop. He stood there for a second in silence before gripping the door handle and yanking the door wide open, revealing who was responsible for dragging himself away from The Wolfman and warm, flat beer.

Gerard prided himself on keeping his social life and his work life separate. He wasn't always the most responsible teacher at school; he sometimes turned up with a hangover and sometimes he was even drunk during his classes. Sometimes he swore in front of his students and when he couldn't be bothered to teach he put on a DVD and scrolled through his phone all day. But he never, never, never had an innapropriate relationship with a student.

You can imagine how surprised he was to see his student Frank Iero standing on the other side of the door, blood dripping down one side of his face and a large, blue and purple bruise over his left eye, sweat soaking through his shirt and one foot completely lacking a sock or shoe. When Frank recognised Gerard as his teacher, his eyes widened and he took a self conscious step backwards. He looked as if he was going to turn and run away when there was a loud, aggressive shout from behind him, presumably from some unseen attacker. He tensed and a pained, conflicted expression crossed his face.

"Sir, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but could I come in for a minute?" Frank panted, wiping furiously at the blood on his face. Gerard, who had been too shocked to say anything until now, nodded mutely and stepped to the side to allow Frank in.


	2. Chapter 2

Frank wandered inside, well aware of his teacher's eyes boring into his back. He hadn't known that this house belonged to his teacher, and if he had he would never have knocked on the door. Or maybe he would have - Frank didn't know. Maybe all the blows he had taken had gone to his head and he was left utterly confused.

The truth was, Frank had just needed somewhere to hide. Anywhere would have done, and after running until his sides ached and he couldn't breathe, Mr Way's house was the first house he had seen, and he jumped at the opportunity to escape his attackers. When he had seen his teacher - his teacher! - standing opposite him looking at him as if he had just grown two heads, he had to resist the urge to turn and run away. Never mind the ensuing awkwardness that would doubtless follow in his lessons with Mr Way, but if there was one thing he didn't want to do after being brutally beaten up, it was try to explain that to his History teacher.

Still, remembering the group of at least five men who were all stronger and meaner than Frank and who would have no qualms over beating him senseless, he decided it would be best not to run away and instead take refuge in the older man's house. 

Mr Way's house was small, smaller than he would have expected him to have, but maybe the guy just liked cosy places? Frank didn't know and quite honestly, he didn't care. As long as it had walls and a roof and a front door that kept everyone who might want to harm him out, he was happy. Taking a step further, he eyed the sofa and the pizza hungrily, remembering he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Frank was not a natural troublemaker. He didn't make trouble - he simply attracted it. He would never have been in yet another fight if the people hadn't approached him and provoked him first. He had just been minding his own business, enjoying a drink all on his own, when out of the blue this one guy sat down next to him. Frank hadn't thought anything of it since the man ordered a drink and didn't make any attempt to converse with Frank. He only began to grow suspicious when another man sat down on the other side of him, and he noticed them both leaning back in their seats an exchange words behind his back. It made him uneasy, and when he realised they were both flanked by their friends: two more on his right, one more on his led, he got up to leave. He didn't know they were following him until they were upon him, and by then it was two late.

Frank didn't know what their angle was. He hadn't been causing trouble and he didn't have anything worth stealing, but they still hit him and kicked him when he was down. It was by sheer luck he had managed to punch back at the one hitting him, causing him to stumble backwards and knock into one of his friends, that Frank was able to jump to his feet and start running.

He noticed Mr Way staring at him and realised he should probably say something before the teacher asked him to get the hell out. Unfortunately, Frank couldn't think of a thing to say. He cast his eyes around the room until they settled on the TV where a very familiar set of opening credits were playing.

"Hey! I love The Wolfman!" Frank blurted out before he could stop himself, and then mentally facepalmed. Now he was going to get kicked out for sure. He turned to see Mr Way looking at him completely confused, but the beginnings of an amused smile playing at his lips. Frank blushed furiously and kicked himself for being so socially uneducated.

"Yeah, it's great..." Mr Way began, and Frank could tell he was searching for the right words. "Frank, do you... Mind me asking what you're doing here?"

"Oh." Was all Frank said to start with. Then he swallowed and tried again. "Well, you see I ran into some trouble, and your house was the first I saw. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. I'll go if you want?" Frank asked, putting on his best Respectful Voice and hoping his teacher would let him stay a little while longer. He had absolutely no idea where he was, it was dark and cold outside and the thought of going home and explaining his appearance to his mother didn't appeal to him. Thankfully, Mr Way seemed to understand.

"No, that's alright Frank. You can stay if you need to, but you'll have to tell me what happened in a little more detail than that." Frank opened his mouth to reply but Mr Way held up his hand to stop him. "Hold that thought. You're bleeding. You need get cleaned up."

He stood up and motioned for Frank to follow him. He followed the older man through the hall he had just walked through and then upstairs. He knew he should feel worried. After all, just because someone was your teacher doesn't mean they couldn't be dangerous, but Frank was oddly calm. Maybe it was because he had already gone through so much and he didn't think he could handle any more pain particular night. They passed a room with a poster hung on the wall and Frank couldn't help but stare at it as they walked.

"So Frank." Mr Way continued, gesturing for Frank to sit on the edge of the bathtub as they entered a small bathroom. Frank perched awkwardly on the edge while Mr Way sat on the - closed - seat of the toilet. Bringing out a bottle of something that smelt disgusting, he poured a little on a cotton pad and leaned forward to dab at the wounds in Frank's face. "You were about to tell me what happened to you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unchecked, un-edited. If you see any mistakes with anything just leave a comment or send me a message. Otherwise: enjoy! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Frank was surprised that Gerard was actually cleaning up his wounds for him, Gerard could tell. He was interested to hear what had happened to the boy, and he felt oddly protective over him. Maybe it was the fact that he had taught him History every year since he could remember, maybe it was the fact that he only came up to most people's shoulders. He didn't know. But the sharp intake of breath gave Frank's shock away when Gerard leaned in inches away from Frank's face and began to dab carefully at the blood. Frank winced in pain, but squared his jaw and held strong, refusing to let the pain show too clearly.

"Well." Frank spoke shakily, ignoring the stinging on the side of his face. He didn't want to breathe too much because of how close Gerard was to his face. "I was just having a drink, and out of nowhere I get surrounded and pounced on for no reason!" Frank joked, trying to make it seem less serious than it really was. He only realised his mistake when Gerard pulled back and frowned at him, concern etched into his features.

"You were ... Drinking? Aren't you a little young to be drinking? Seventeen right?" He checked, starting to worry about Frank. He wasn't stupid; he knew most people Frank's age drank and smoked and did things he would never have done at their age, but he worried nonetheless.

"Yeah." Frank confirmed. "But I know a guy who doesn't ask questions, y'know." By the look on Gerard's face, Frank had said totally the wrong thing just then and he cursed himself. Him and his big mouth. "I'm fine though!" He hurried to say. Gerard didn't believe him for a second.

"Did you recognise any of them?" Gerard questioned, deciding to change to subject. Frank shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut tightly as the pain shot through his head. "Stay still." Gerard muttered, his breath fanning across Frank's face. But Frank couldn't stay still. He was nervous, on edge and confused as to what he was still doing here. His leg twitched, his toes and heel hitting the bathroom floor, and Gerard groaned in annoyance. Frank's eyes widened a little at the groan, but more at the effect it had on him. And then, as if that wasn't enough, Gerard reached out a hand and gripped the side of Frank's face gently, not enough to hurt him but enough to keep his head steady. Frank froze, not exactly scared. Gerard's fingertips were warm.

"Has this happened before, Frank?" Gerard murmured, squinting and sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth subconsciously as he concentrated on cleaning Frank's face up. Frank was trying to concentrate on anything but the proximity of him and his teacher, and his teacher's tongue sticking out of his mouth so, so close to Frank that if he just leaned forwards a little bit - 

"No!" Frank lied, but it sounded weak and false to his own ears and he knew Mr Way didn't believe him. He didn't push it.

"Would you like me to drive you home after this?" Gerard asked, and was slightly alarmed when Frank practically exploded in front of him, his eyes wide and terrified.

"No!" He all but yelled. "My mom can't see me like this! Please?" He begged and Gerard nodded.

"Okay, okay, calm Frank." The teacher soothed. "You don't have to go home if you really don't want to. I suppose you can stay in the spare room, if you want?" Gerard was just as surprised by his offer as Frank was. He had no idea why he had just said that, but now it was out there he couldn't take it back. And he didn't want to either.

"Mr Way, it's fine. I don't want to be a bother -"

"Nonsense, Frank." He was cut off. "It's almost midnight. It wouldn't be responsible for me to let you leave now, and if you don't want to go home - well. The safest thing would be for you to stay here." Gerard concluded. "You can sleep in the spare room down the hall."

Frank found himself nodding before his mouth could say anything it regretted. Then a ridiculous thought struck him and he found himself smiling a little.

"I think you'll have missed The Wolfman by now, sir. I'm sorry." To his delight, Mr Way laughed a little, his eyes crinkling up and his mouth lifting up on one side. 

"Don't worry; it's a horror movie marathon. You wanna watch?" Gerard offered, and Frank nodded happily. Gerard, pleased with his work now that Frank was no longer bleeding, pulled away just a tiny bit. He looked up into Frank's eyes and saw for the first time how nice they were. He didn't care that he was staring; at least not until Frank made a small sound in the back of his throat did what Gerard was actually doing hit him like a punch in the stomach.

"Oh my God!" He gasped, turning bright red. "Frank, I'm so sorry! That was totally innapropriate! I should never - that was - I'm so sorry Frank." He choked out, eyes downcast. Frank wanted to reach out and lift his chin with his fingers... What? No he didn't! This was his teacher!

"No! Sir, it's fine. Honestly." Frank assured. "But I - I might give the film a miss. I'm really tired, actually."

Gerard nodded, still confused with his behaviour.

"Down the hall, second room on the right. You can get ready in here if you want." He said, getting up and leaving, closing the door softly behind him and swallowing. The idea of a horror movie marathon and cold pizza - for the first time in his life - suddenly didn't appeal to him.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a long night. Frank tossed and turned in the unfamiliar yet not entirely uncomfortable bed, unable to sleep. He was sure it had more to do with the fact that his teacher was downstairs rather than the bruises all over his body that hurt whenever he shifted positions. Gerard was also uneasy. He knew what he was doing was highly innapropriate; maybe not illegal, but he could still lose his job over something like this. Why, then, had he asked Frank to stay in the first place? If he had gone outside and got hurt, so what? Kids get hurt everyday, Gerard, he told himself. Stop trying to save the world! But what if Frank had gone out and been killed? What if he got run over in the dark, or the same people who had attacked him suddenly pulled a knife?

Gerard shuddered at the thought of Frank getting hurt, let alone being killed. There was something about the small boy that interested him; that made him want to get to know him. 'You still shouldn't have asked him to stay', a nasty voice in the back of his head told him, but he blocked it out. That was what he did most of the time these days: block out the voice so he did first, and thought later.

Without thinking about it, he left the sofa and walked across to his fridge in the kitchen, pulling out a beer. He was confused and he needed a drink to help clear his head - or at least make him forget all about tonight for a while. Pulling off the catch, he drank half the can in one sip. He returned to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted.

Frank couldn't stop thinking about how embarrassing it was going to be when they went back to school on Monday. Frank sat relatively close to Mr Way's desk in History; not close enough for Mr Way to pick on him to answer questions all the time, but not far enough away that he never got picked on. Not only had he intruded upon his teacher's evening, he had intruded with a beat up face, which had led Mr Way to clean up his face, which has led to awkward staring, which had led to Frank staying the night. He guessed that this was illegal; it's not like he was going to tell anyone. He wasn't that stupid as to go spreading it around in case he got Mr Way in trouble - which he definitely didn't want to do since Mr Way was one of his nicer teachers - but he was worried he might let something slip into his friends' conversations by accident. It would seem a little odd if Frank just mentioned he spent the night at his teacher's house and then turned red from embarassment. Frank had a big mouth and he knew it; sometimes it was just a little had to control what came out of it.

At the end of the film, and about six beers later, Gerard was feeling a lot more relaxed, and also very tired. He ascended the stairs quickly, trying to keep the noise down so as not to wake Frank if he was sleeping. Crashing onto the landing and wincing at the loud 'bang' it made, he made his way to the guest room and looked inside. The door was open and in the light from the landing, he could see the shape of Frank's body hidden under the duvet cover. The blanket was rising and falling steadily, so Gerard assumed he must be asleep. He took a step inside the room. His teacher brain was screaming at him that this was a terrible idea and to get the hell out of there, but his drunk brain was in charge of his body, it seemed, and he took another step forwards. Kneeling down a metre away from the bed, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the dull thumping in his head that would surely turn into a terrible hangover in the morning.

"Frankie..." He whispered, before getting up a leaving.

Frank turned over in the bed, eyes wide, when he heard Mr Way leave. His heart was in his mouth and he had no idea what had just happened. All he knew was this was not ordinary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was just a filler chapter to be honest ... I know where I want to go with the story but I don't know how to get there. :(  
> Enjoy! <3


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Frank woke up at noon and groaned. He had a hangover, his entire body hurt and he was lying in his teacher's spare bed. He had meant to wake up early and sneak out before Mr Way woke up, writing him a note of thanks, but judging on the smell of breakfast wafting up the stairs and the distant sound of singing, there was no chance of that now.

Frank got up slowly, wincing as the room swirled around him, and he slowly descended the stairs, getting closer and closer to the source of the wonderful smell. It smelt like pancakes and Frank's stomach grumbled, hungry. Not even eating with his teacher could ruin pancakes for him.

Gerard had woken up at four in the morning and had waited his hangover out, wanting to be in proper shape for when Frank woke up. He knew how terrible it would look if he had a hangover. He was surprised when he began to feel well again around nine and he decided to wait and to make breakfast for his student, thinking back to his favourite dish when he was in high school. He only noticed Frank was awake and standing right behind him when the boy coughed self-consciously to alert Gerard to his presence.

"Good morning." Gerard said casually, turning round and smiling politely at Frank, who returned the smile warily. 

"Good morning." Frank replied cautiously, as though he thought Gerard might be tricking him. He felt very nervous suddenly. 

"Did you sleep well?" Mr Way asked chirpily, dropping a pancake onto a plate and placing it on a table with a bunch of assorted sauces in front of Frank. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I made breakfast. I didn't want to wake you. I hope you're hungry." 

Frank swallowed, nodding quickly so as not to offend Mr Way. It looked like he had gone to a lot of trouble making Frank breakfast and the last thing he wanted to do was look ungrateful; but at the same time Frank knew he had History with Mr Way fourth the next day and he dreaded how weird it was going to be, having to go back and pretend nothing ever happened. He didn't know if Mr Way did this often - allowed students to stay at his house, or even bring them back there, although he seemed like a decent enough guy, not someone who would do that - and he was reminded of when Mr Way had walked into the spare room the night before and knelt down next to his bed. How he had leaned in close and whispered 'Frankie', how Frank had felt goosebumps rise on his arms at the small action...

"Frank?' Mr Way asked, and Frank realised he must have asked a question that he had missed. Blushing furiously, he shook his head and slunk into the chair Gerard offered, picking up a fork and starting to pick at the pancake, looking anywhere but at Mr Way.

"Sorry, what?" Frank said quietly and Gerard tried and failed to hide a smirk.

"I just asked if you shouldn't go home soon? Won't your parents be wondering where you are?" Gerard repeated. He frowned when he saw a dark expression cross his face that he couldn't quite place, but it was gone almost as quickly as it came and Frank nodded, standing up and stepping away from the empty plate.

"Do you need a hand with the washing up?" Frank offered half heartedly and was quite relieved when Mr Way said no, that he could do it on his own. He stood still for a short moment before turning round to the door and walking towards it. "Well, thanks for letting me stay, sir."

Gerard nodded, following Frank to the door and opening it; he stuck his head out and looked right and left before he gave the 'okay' for Frank to leave. As he was halfway down the driveway, Mr Way called out to him.

"You know Frank, the bruises are already fading."

Frank couldn't help but laugh as he made his way towards his own house.

***

It happened when he got home. Frank had expected his stepfather to be out and to only have to face his mother asking about his whereabouts, but as soon as he stepped through the door he realised he was mistaken. He could hear yelling coming from the living room and he closed the door quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Somehow, like his stepfather had superhero hearing skills, both he and Frank's mother came crashing into the hallway when they heard Frank return home.

"Where have you been?" Frank's stepfather yelled whilst his mother looked on with a pained expression. "Answer me!"

He had been drinking again; Frank could tell. Daniel, as Frank always called him, despite being told to call him 'Sir', always slurred his words after a couple of drinks. He was such a lightweight, and for Frank and his mother than was a bad, bad thing. Daniel got loud when he got drunk, and he got angry when he was loud and he was aggressive when he was angry.

"Out." Frank said defiantly, attempting to walk past Daniel to his stairs when the bigger man took his by surprise, grabbing the lappels of his coat and slamming him into the wall, shaking him violently. Frank hit his head hard on the brick wall behind him, blinking rapidly to clear his head. All the noise seemed to drop suddenly and there was just a high pitched whine in the back of his head, like white noise. He was aware of Daniel yelling something in front of his face, his spittle flying at Frank, but Frank couldn't for the life of him be bothered to focus on what he was saying. Out of nowhere, Daniels fist came out of nowhere and hit Frank square across the jaw in one of the few places he didn't already have a bruise. All the sound in the house came rushing back one hundred times louder and he can hear Daniel's angry yelling, his mother's distressed screaming and begging for his stepfather to stop.

Daniel loosened his hold on Frank for long enough that he wriggled out of his grip and took the stairs two at a time, running into his room at the end of the corridor and slamming the door behind him. He knew they wouldn't dare follow him to his room; it was sort of sacred territory, a line no one else in Frank's house would cross. He collapsed onto the floor, silent sobs racking his body as his shoulders shook. He missed his father.

On having this though, he immediately pulled out his phone and his finger hovered over the call button. He really needed to talk to a friendly, caring person right now, and this was something he couldn't tell his friends about. But then ... His father had left him and his mother for another woman. He couldn't care about Frank all that much if he left him, could he? Screaming in defeat, Frank threw his phone at the wall and continued to cry out his suffering.


	6. Chapter 6

After a while there was a quiet, tentative knock at the door and Frank looked up, startled. He had assumed his mother would just leave him alone and focus on calming Daniel down, and the chances of it being his step-father coming to apologise were very small. Slowly, Frank got up and dragged his hand across his face, praying it didn't look like he had been crying his eyes out just minutes earlier.

Frank's mother launched herself into her son's arms and sobbed hysterically when he wrapped his arms around her after a while, once the initial shock had worn away. Frank felt like telling her to get her face off his shoulder because he had just washed this shirt, but he could tell she needed comforting and so he let her vent her feelings onto his clothes.

Once she had stopped crying, she pulled back a little and wiped her nose, smiling pathetically.

"I told him to go." she said simply, holding her hands behind her back and looking at her feet guiltily as though she was waiting for approval. Frank almost choked on his own saliva, not believing what he was hearing.

"You what?!" he cried incredulously, noting she dull blush creeping up his mother's neck and he realised she looked like she was about to start weeping again.

"I ... Frank, I'm so sorry. I can't believe he hit you. But that was it - the last straw, y'know - he's done. I told him to get out and never come back and he left. Are you happy?"

Frank just nodded, his eyes wide, and opened his arms to hug his mom again. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Daniel had hit him plenty of times before, and he also didn't tell her that he had been beat up much worse the day before by a bunch of drunk strangers, but in that moment he was so proud of her, he couldn't do anything but hug her.

Frank wasn't stupid; he knew getting Daniel out of their lives wouldn't be that easy. He would come back later, or maybe the next day, sober, and try to persuade Linda that he was sorry and he would never do it again and that he loved her and Frank, and Frank knew his mother would crumble if she was left alone with him for too long. He just had to make sure that didn't happen.

"Frank!" his mother exclaimed suddenly, snapping Frank out of his thoughts and dragging his attention back to the woman in front of him who now looked a little less like an insecure little girl and more like a fiery, over-protective mother. "What the hell happened to your face?! Daniel didn't do all that!"

Frank gasped slightly, remembering all the other bruises he had acquired over the weekend. He shook his head furiously and ducked, burning holes into his shoes with his eyes. He had been planning to sneak in and cover the worst of it with make-up. That idea was out the window now.

"Frank, baby, what happened?" his mother asked softly, touching his chin with two fingers and lifting his head up to look at her. She bit her lip and her eyes welled with tears again when she saw the state his face was in. "Don't wanna talk about it?" she guessed, nodding understandingly, and Frank replied with a sniffle that was anything but reassuring.

That night, Frank went to bed content and - relatively - happy for the first time in ages. He felt safe knowing that Daniel wasn't in the room along the corridor or down the stairs from him, able to burst in any second and beat the crap out of him or, even worse, his mother. Knowing they were both fine for now was the best feeling in the world, Frank decided. He was asleep in no time, exhausted by the confusing and mentally draining weekend.


	7. Chapter 7

If Frank was trying to hide in lessons before the whole teacher/sleepover fiasco, it was nothing compared to now.

He sat, slumped in his chair, completely covered by an oversized, baggy black hoodie, attempting to hide behind his hair. As Mr Way burst into the History room, shuffling papers awkwardly and beaming due to his thankfully gone hangover, Frank squeezed his eyes shut and slid even further down in his chair. Looking back on it, Frank couldn't believe he had actually gone inside his teacher's house - his teacher's house! - and he even began to wish he had taken the beating from the jerks from the pub. Why had he even gone out in the first place?

"Okay guys. I know what you're thinking: it's Monday, I'm tired, I just wanna go home and nap." My Way began to speak, glancing around the room as his eyes finally settled upon the small, huddled figure in the middle of the room. The corners of Gerard's lips twitched up into a smirk for no reason before he managed to control his features.

There was a murmer of assent from the class; the thought of... _working_ for an hour made the teenagers - and Gerard - want to crawl under a rock and make a home there.

"Well I know exactly how you feel so today I just want you to watch this documentary and take notes. Next lesson we'll go over your notes and you can write your essays based on them."

A collective sigh of relief rippled around the class like the Mexican wave. Everyone seemed happy - everyone, that is, except Frank. Mr Way raised an eyebrow at the unenthusiastic kid.

"However, we have lunch after this and you will need these notes to complete your essays so if I don't think you have enough, you will be spending your lunchtime with me, and we'll go through this documentary until I say you have enough. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good."

Gerard turned to his computer and inserted the disc. Any other day but today, he would have been enthralled by the hour of historic facts and old footage, but it was today, and today something else had caught his eye.

Frank wasn't doing his work. He was trying to make it look like he was by doodling and drawing mindless scribbles in his margin, but it was obvious to everyone but Frank that it was clear he wasn't paying attention. Frank didn't care much for their current topic, and documentaries were, in Frank's opinion, the worst kind of torture.

For the entirety of the lesson, Frank concentrated not on taking notes but on trying not to stare at Mr Way. He looked at the floor, the ceiling, his empty page, hell, even the black and white grainy video on the screen, but Frank did _not_ look at Mr Way. In fact, he was sitting at his desk staring so intently at the mindless doodles on his page that he didn't notice his teacher getting out of his chair and heading straight for Frank. He only noticed when the bell rang, shrill and loud, four times, jolting him out of his daydream and nearly causing him to topple out of his chair. He looked up, red with embarassment, and saw Mr Way watching him with a slight smirk on his face. This only worsened Frank's blush.

Mr Way looked down at Frank's paper and then up at Frank himself, raising an eyebrow over-dramatically and sighing deeply as though he was truly disappointed in Frank's lacking ability to take notes. In truth, Gerard couldn't care less about the notes, most of the kids in his class didn't take notes, but this was Frank, and Gerard did care about Frank.

"No notes, Frankie?" Mr Way asked, masking the hint of amusement in his voice.

Frank was was reminded of the last time he had been called Frankie by Mr Way ... in the spare bed with his teacher kneeling a few feet away from the back of Frank's head ...

"No, sir." Frank hurried to say, worried he would blurt something stupid out.

Mr Way tutted patronisingly and folded his arms, walking back to the front of the class and flopping back in his chair. He made a big show of putting his feet up on his desk and his hands behind his head.

"I guess you'll be spending your lunch time with me then."

 _Great_ , Frank thought, slumping back down in his chair now he knew he wouldn't be leaving. _Now Ray will wonder where I am. Just freakin' awesome._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or message me if you see any errors or if you're just enjoying the story.  
> Side note: how expensive are pop tarts these days?! Jeez! <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go down in detention... but they don't really. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had noodles yesterday, and I had noodles today, and I want noodles tomorrow. Is it normal to love noodles so much?  
> ALSO please feel free to massage my ego and go follow me on Quotev: FantasySwap, or Wattpad: BeccaDeccaSantorski.  
> As usual, comment, like, point out any grammatical errors, all that jazz.  
> Enjoy! <3

Frank wasn't entirely sure what Mr Way's aim was. He knew just as well as his teacher that most people in the room hadn't completed their requirement of taking notes, and he was planning to take his book home and spin out some bullshit to satisfy his teacher just like the rest of his peers. So why was Mr Way singling him out? It couldn't have anything to do with the weekend, could it?

God. Who was Frank kidding? Of course it was.

Frank was seriously beginning to regret not taking the beating. Bruises can heal and scabs can grow over and even broken bones can be fixed, but Frank was certain nothing could stop the current awkwardness that was emanating from his teacher, sitting cross legged on his chair watching Frank intently, except maybe an explosion and a few masked figures running in carrying guns. Actually, the thought of a school shooting did sound good right about now. Anything to stop... _this_.

And yep, that was how Frank knew he was insane.

Frank sighed unintentionally, and then blushed bright red when he saw Mr Way's eyebrows raise. He just wanted out. Out of this classroom, out of this school, out of this town, out of this country. Frank didn't know exactly what he wanted but he just. Wanted. Out.

"So, Frank." Gerard began, trying not to smirk too obviously. "Would you mind telling me why you don't feel the need to complete the work I set you? Was I not clear enough in expressing, at the start of the lesson, that it was not optional?" He sounded stern, but Frank easily detected the hint of humour in his words. It gave him goosebumps.

"No. You were clear," Frank grated out through clenched teeth, and then seemed to add on as an afterthought, "Sir." He regretted it instantly, not meaning for it to sound as sarcastic as it did. Mr Way seemed unfazed however, and was actually trying to focus on not giggling more than Frank's tone of voice. Quite honestly, he didn't care that he was being unprofessional. It was like... _like_... _God_ , what was it like? Gerard felt like all rational thought was gone. He just wanted to act like he would have acted if he was a teenager, if he was a student, if he wasn't this kid's - this _child's_ \- teacher. He didn't care about the consequences anymore; the aftermath was secondary. He wanted to at least have a chance with Frank, and for it not to be tainted by the fact that it was highly illegal and disgustingly immoral. He just wanted Frank!

And there it was. The startling truth out in the open. Gerard wanted Frank. There, he said it, are you happy now God? Dammit, when did everything become so hard? Was it when Frank almost dented his door from knocking so hard? Was it when Frank stumbled through into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub, allowing Gerard to clean his wounds. Was it when Frank looked at Gerard, meeting his eyes and breathing out shakily? Was it when that breath blew across Gerard's hand and almost made him drop the bloodstained cloth? Was it when Frank... FrankFrankFrank. Gerard was sure he was crazy. Or sick. Or a criminal. Or maybe all three. Or maybe, _maybe_ Gerard wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"Mr Way?" Frank asked tentatively, beginning to get a little uncomfortable with being stared at. The older man was obviously lost in thought, and Frank tried to tell his frantic heart that it was just a coincidence Mr Way zoned out whilst looking at him. Yeah. That must have been it.

Really, Frank just wanted to leave and go in search of Ray. He was pretty pissed off that he had to stay behind to complete the work that almost nobody else had done either. This was stupid. This was annoying. This was - holy crap, Mr Way looked cute when he blushed!

A slight pink tinge crept up Gerard's neck when he realised he'd been caught staring, and he hoped it didn't look like he was mentally undressing Frank. He vaguely remembered something about detention, and a documentary, and Frank needing to take notes, but at that moment taking notes was the last thing on both of their minds. They were both lost in their own little world and they needed to focus, like, now, before the other realised something was wrong.

"Was there something distracting you, Frank?" Mr Way asked quickly to cover his tracks, wincing at how horribly cliched that sounded. That was what all his teachers had told him when he was at school. He hadn't been the best student in school and after being bullied a lot, his teachers finally cottoned on to why he would never speak in lessons and why he kept one arm wrapped around his waist protectively at all times. 'Are you okay, Gerard?' they would ask, making false faces of sympathy at the boy who just wanted to be left alone. 'You can always talk to me, you know.'  
It had made Gerard sick, and now he had turned into what he never wanted to be. A hypocrite and a liar - and don't forget a paedophile.

"No." Frank said simply, his voice flat and emotionless. He couldn't believe Mr Way was being like this. Being so ... distant, after last weekend. Sure, he had picked on him specifically to stay behind, but Frank wasn't some mental patient in denial. It was like his teacher was afraid of mentioning it in case it 'upset' Frank, and Frank used the term 'upset' very lightly. The least Mr Way could do, Frank reasoned, was mention it.

"Okay." Gerard said, and the previous awkwardness settled over them again. This wasn't how things were supposed to be! This wasn't at all what Gerard had intended when he'd asked for Frank to stay behind. Granted, he wasn't stupid enough to believe that Frank would jump at him and that they would make out on his desk, but he hadn't thought it would be this uncomfortable for both of them. Gerard thought of just telling him to leave and complete the notes for homework, but Frank spoke before he could voice his though.

"You haven't told anyone, have you?" The words sounded shaky and nervous. Frank had decided that, screw it, if Mr Way wasn't going to talk about it then it was up to Frank to make the first move. "I mean - you haven't, you're not going to ... to tell anyone, are you?" Frank was pretty sure he already knew the answer to that question. After all, Mr Way had more reason not to tell anyone than Frank did, but Frank felt he needed to break the ice and get them onto a mutual topic that they could both agree on.

Gerard shook his head slowly, relieved his student had had the guts to speak first. The tension was just about killing him.

"I won't if you won't." Gerard said softly, loving the way Frank chewed on his bottom lip and sucked his lip ring into his mouth. The bruises were already fading to a mottled blue colour and Frank had done well at disguising them, covering with make up and lining his eyes heavily so his black eye almost - almost - looked like eye shadow. All the same, there was a bruise over Frank's left cheek that Gerard was pretty certain hadn't been there when he left Gerard's house on Sunday. Had the same guys cornered him on the way home? Or was it different people? How did the tiny kid seem to attract so much trouble?

Frabk nodded gratefully, looking up when Mr Way rose from his seat. He sauntered around the classroom until he was behind Frank, leaning on the back of chair and peering over his head to look at his empty, save for the doodles, page. If he just leaned down a little more he could rest his chin on Frank's head... jesus. His thoughts were going to get him in trouble someday.

Frank resisted the urge to cower as Mr Way leaned over him. He could feel his teacher's body heat radiating off him and Frank visibly jerked when the older man's breath blew onto the back of Frank's neck. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to be in the position. This position was quite nice. But... couldn't his teacher see how dangerous this was? They were practically spooning - standing up and in a weird, awkward way that only half resembled a spoon, but still - in a classroom, when the door wasn't even locked. Anyone could walk in and see them, and then where would they be?

 _'Stop, Frank!'_ Frank thought to himself. _'We wouldn't be anywhere then, because there is nothing weird about this situation! Mr Way probably isn't even thinking about how close we are, or how hot he is, or how good he smells, or how he came into 'my' room that night and said my name -'_

"Your drawings are good, Frank." Gerard mumbled absentmindedly, forgetting himself as he leaned further over Frank. He tugged at the page with his fingers to get a better view of it. Without even thinking about it, because if he did he would most certainly have stopped himself, Frank turned in his seat so his forehead was touching Mr Way's stomach, and inhaled deeply.

Gerard froze, shocked. Frank was only thinking about his teacher's intoxicating scent and not the repercussions of his actions. Mr Way smelt like coffee and cigarettes and school and that really shouldn't have been so comforting or so good as Frank thought it was, but Frank really wasn't thinking. Frank really wasn't thinking as he buried his head in his history teacher's stomach and he really, _really_ wasn't thinking when he tilted his head just a tiny bit upwards and placed a small kiss on Mr Way's shirt, just above where his navel would be. The reality of the situation all came crashing back to him, however, when Mr Way moved. At first Frank thought he was going to push him away, swallow nervously and tell Frank, _'I think you should go',_ but he didn't. Instead he placed a hand on the top of Frank's head, massaging his fingers through Frank's dark hair.

For about a second and a half Frank was too stunned to move, too stunned to breathe, too stunned to turn away, but then he was up and out of his seat before Gerard could even blink. He stuffed his book into his bag so hurriedly that he pushed it in wonky and couldn't close his bag but, unwilling to stay any longer to sort it out, he fled the room in a state of panic, leaving Gerard far too confused to stop him.


	9. Chapter 9

Gerard should have gone after him. He knew he should have gone after him. What he should have done, because Gerard was the responsible adult here, was get up, chase after Frank, tell him it could never happen again and that no one could know and that this - whatever this was - needed to stop now. That was the mature thing to do. The legal thing. The right thing, for God's sake!

All of this passed Gerard's mind as he stood behind Frank's chair, fingers wrapped around the table so tightly his knuckles turned white and his lower stomach tingling where Frank's head had been resting. God, he was sick. Really, really freaking messed up. Who crushes on their student anyway?

Oh right. Gerard.

Gerard knew he should have gone after him.

***

Frank ran. He didn't know where he could go, but he did at least know where he couldn't go. He couldn't go back to Mr Way's classroom - that much was clear - and he couldn't go home as his mother would be there and would know he was skipping school. He couldn't go to find Ray because Ray would know something was up - don't ask how, Ray always knew - and would inevitably bug Frank about it until he snapped and blurted out the whole sorry story. The only bartenders he was on a friendly-fake-ID basis with wouldn't let him in until it was dark so there was less chance people would notice how young Frank really was.

And that was it. That was all of Frank's life in a few sentences. His mother, Ray, a few seedy back alley bars who sold first and asked later, and his weird-ass, major-fucking inappropriate obsession with his super hot History teacher.

Because Frank had come to accept it that it was no longer just a silly high school crush. It was a full blown infatuation. In a couple of days, Frank had gone from mildy attracted to, to completely obsessed with Mr Way. Which was stupid, he knew. It was really fucking stupid, but it had been all Frank had been able to think about since Sunday. He had been so focused on how Mr Way had leaned closer to him as he ever so carefully cleaned up Frank's face that he hadn't noticed Ray's concerned texts that had been bombarding him all day, and he had been too wrapped up in how cute Mr Way had looked when he was all flustered and apologising profusely for getting 'too close' to a student that he had completely forgotten to pick up the eggs his mother had asked him to pick up.

Screw it. He could skip fifth period and go get eggs. At least that way somebody would be pleased with him.

He cut across the main building quickly , trying not to draw attention to himself. The last thing he needed was a moody teacher on his ass. Racing through the car park, Frank headed straight for the gates and was relieved when he managed to exit the school completely without someone so much as spotting him.

It was a five minute walk to the corner shop from the school, but Frank made it in three minutes flat. He had all this pent up energy in his body that had appeared out of nowhere, and running through town was as good a way as any to get rid of it.

The door to CC's corner shop was open when Frank arrived, looking welcoming. He practically dived through into the store and headed straight for the eggs. Once he got them, he held theming one hand carefully and headed for the beer isle. He needed alcohol now and CC was pretty cool; to Frank at least. When he waltzed down the isle, trying to appear overly confident and definitely not like law breaking seventeen year old who still lived with his mother, he caught sight of another man inspecting the choice of wines. He was tall and lanky, incredibly thin with shiny brown hair and glasses which he was constantly pushing up his nose. As if he knew Frank was watching him, he turned and locked eyes the smaller boy, smiling softly. Frank smiled tentatively back and went back to grabbing a can of the cheaper beer in the store.

He didn't notice the stranger moving, which was probably why he screamed and almost dropped the eggs when he heard a voice right behind him.

"Arent you a bit young to be buying alcohol?" Said the man, scaring the bejesus out of Frank, who would have crossed his arms had they not been otherwise engaged in trying to keep the eggs all in one piece.

"Aren't you a bit too gay to be buying tampons?" Frank shotback defensively, glancing down at the guy's basket. The stranger just laughed, surprising Frank.

"That didn't make any sense but okay." He replied. "Actually they're for my girlfriend. Everything in there is. We were planning to have a romantic night, y'know what I mean?" The guy raised his eyebrows suggestively, making Frank look down at his feet. "But then the period hit, and that idea was shot to hell."

He sighed dramatically and looked down at his basket, shooting it what Frank could only describe as a murderous glare. Frank, now feeling distinctly awkward, shuffled and went red. He hadn't envisaged the conversation turning into this uncomfortable a situation for himself, and now he was just desperate to buy his eggs and beer, escape to the park and drink himself silly so he didn't have to think about everything wrong with his life at the moment.

"Sorry. That was not what I came over here to say." The man continued, laughing and seeming reluctant to let Frank leave. "I'm Mikey, by the way."

"Frank." Frank mumbled in response. "Why _did_ you come over here, _actually_?"

"I _actually_ came over here because of your hoodie. You have a cool hoodie." He gestured towards the small white Misfits logo on Frank's otherwise black hoodie.

"Yeah?" Frank perked up, beginning to warm up to the stranger. He was annoying and nosy, sure, but at least he had a good taste in music. "You like them?"

"Hell yeah." The man laughed. Then he seemed to grow more serious. "So what's got you skipping school to come here and buy beer?" He raised an eyebrow and Frank gulped, swallowing nervously.

"I'm not skipping school -"

"Kid," Mikey interrupted. "My brother's a teacher. I know what skipping-kids look like and you are the very definition of a skipping kid. Plus, don't take this the wrong way but... you're tiny."

Frank would have punched him if his hands weren't full. "I'm not _tiny_ , I'm a little short for my age!" He argued, but it really was a lost cause as Mikey just smirked and shrugged.

"Whatever, but you still haven't answered my question."

"Well... I don't need to tell you anything, yknow. I don't, like, _owe_ you anything. I don't owe you shit. You're a stranger. I don't know you."

"I know." Mikey said simply, and then fell silent.

"Fine." Frank huffed, making his way to the counter. "Well, if you must know, I like this guy, okay? But... we can't, like, _be_ together."

"What, is he married?" Mikey frowned. "You really shouldn't get involved with a married man. That's just wrong."

"No, idiot!" Frank hissed, handing over the money to the young woman behind the counter, smiling politely and trying to look like she wasn't eavesdropping on their conversation. "He's not married. Or I really hope he isn't. He better fuckin' not be married."

"Okay, okay!" Mikey held his hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender. "So, why can't you be together?"

Frank hesitated. He didn't know this guy. He seemed trustworthy, but telling a stranger that you may or may not have kissed your teacher - he wasn't sure if the fact that it was that is wasn't his face made it better or worse - was a bad idea.

"Its complicated. I mean, I don't know if he likes me back to start with. I'm pretty sure he does, but if he doesn't I'll just look like an idiot. But then... people wouldn't exactly accept us if we did get together. It would be bad."

Mikey took a big breath and then let it out, paying for his own items and leaving the store with Frank. They both winced and blinked from the sudden sunlight shining in their eyes.

"That's awful cryptic, kid. But you want my advice?" Frank just nodded dumbly, not even bothering to tell Mikey off for calling him kid. "Talk to him. Find out if he likes you before anything else. No point losing sleep, worrying about whether or not he likes you when you could just find out."

Frank nodded slowly. "I guess you're right. Thanks Mikey."

"No problem, kid. I'll see you around, yeah? But don't skip school anymore."

Mikey heard Frank laughing as they went their own separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably has a shit ton of errors and mistakes because I wrote most of it on my phone and the screen is very small and fiddly and uh.  
> Sorry it's taken so long for me to update; I've had terrible wifi and just been really uninspired lately. Sorry. :/  
> As usual, like, comment, subscribe, whatever.  
> Enjoy! <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much happens, just a little build up... <3

The park was empty when Frank finally arrived, due to it being a little after two in the afternoon on a weekday. Everyone was at school or work at home in bed, which was where Frank would much rather have been right now. Unfortunately, thanks to his mother's unemployed-ness, that was impossible unless he wanted to be grounded - because: shut up seventeen year olds can still be grounded!

Rather than sit on the bench which is what any normal person would do, Frank chose to seat himself on the grass, laying the eggs out behind him as if to protect them from any stray footballs or hungry wild creatures than could emerge from the undergrowth at any second. He opened the first can of beer and began pouring it down his throat with little regard for the time or the fact that, if there was a patrolling cop around he could not only be suspended for skipping school but also fined for drinking in public. 

It it was his plan to forget all his worries for a short time. Now, Frank was not a lightweight, and therefore was unable to get wasted from a couple of cans of cheap beer, but if he couldn't get wasted he could at least become pleasantly buzzed so he could ... see things through rose tinted spectacles, so to speak. Because in all honesty, the world was looking distinctly grey to Frank.

He had stupidly, impossibly and ridiculously managed to fall in love - well, maybe, because Frank had never been in love before so he really didn't know how it was supposed to feel - with his teacher of all people. If that wasn't cause for getting wasted - sorry, buzzed - he didn't know what was. Maybe Mikey would have been right, in any other situation but this, but Mikey didn't know the situation and if he did he would almost certainly not have given Frank the advice he did. He even said his brother was a teacher! How would he feel about his brother risking everything for a student, an illegal relationship? No, it wasn't the same knowing it was a stranger who could get arrested, but Mikey would still be able to relate, right? If he had known he would have told Frank that it was a bad idea, that he should stay away, that Frank was sick for getting these kind of feelings.

This was stupid, Frank decided. Mr Way probably doesn't even like him, y'know, like that, and even if he did - which he doesn't! - but even if he did, he wouldn't act on it. He would just find someone more mature to take Frank's place. Or, what if he already had someone to take Frank's place? What if he was married? Or had a girlfriend or a boyfriend who he loved, and by this weird, timid flirting Frank was jeapordizing their relationship?

God. Crushes were so overrated, in Frank's opinion. Here he was, sitting on the floor in a park when he should have been in Advanced Maths class with Mr. Smith, drinking beer and thinking about his dreamy History teacher. God, he was so screwed! How did he even get in this situation again?  
Oh yeah, by spending the night at his house. That was probably a bad idea.

Was that really ... It? Before that night, Frank had paid no more attention to Mr Way than he did to his History homework - and no, he wasn't ashamed to admit that - so did it really only take one night of confusing, almost romantic actions to fuel Frank's passionate side and make him care about something other than Ray and the welfare of his mother? This crush had seemingly sprung from nowhere, and Frank couldn't believe that. It must have been burning deep inside him all this time just waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself. Well, Frank thought, it's view of perfect is a little skewed.

Frank was, regrettably, so far gone he was already stuck in next week, checking out the latest lottery numbers. He opened another can of beer with his teeth, throwing away the empty one and then, deciding against being a litterer, crawled after the discarded bottle and stuffed it in his school bag to deal with later.

Then he felt a little prick on the back of his neck, felt his hairs stand on end, felt as though someone was watching him.

He twisted round in his seat, the amount of alcohol he had consumed already making everything seem slightly off balance. There wasn't anybody he could see, but there was a lot of undergrowth and a few cars with blacked out windows parked along the side of the road leading up to CC's and the school. Maybe there was someone hiding, waiting to jump out of the car and drag him into the boot ... Or perhaps they were in the forest waiting for the perfect moment to knock him out and haul his body into a small, Frank-shaped hole they had dug in the ground, burying him alive.

Frank shivered, getting up slowly and staggering a little - God, how did he get so drunk from only two bottles? - and slinging his bag over his shoulder. Checking the time, he saw that it would now be well into fifth period. He could go home and if his mother asked him anything he could lie and say he had a free period. She wouldn't know any better; she was always dealing with Daniel before now. Hey, maybe he could skip fifth lesson every Monday from now on?

As if sensing his mood had grown worse, there was a loud rumble from above followed by a flood of rain. Grey storm clouds loomed menacingly overhead and Frank sighed in disappointment for the millionth time that he didn't have a car to drive home. Even if driving home a little tipsy wasn't the best idea, it was sure as hell better than the alternative: walking home in the pouring rain and getting drenched. With Frank's shitty immune system, he would probably get pneumonia from that.

God. Frank was so screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I don't know if that chapter was any good or not but let me know in the comments? I have very little to say other than: I know we're all really dissapointed about the MCRX situation. I know I was hoping for a reunion - don't judge, we all were - but remember not to take it out on the members of the band and HEY AT LEAST WE HAVE NEVER BEFORE HEARD DEMOS FROM THE BLACK PARADE ALBUM!! 23/9/16 PEOPLE!  
> As usual, enjoy, comment, subscribe, yadda yadda yadda.  
> <3  
> P.S. Shoutout to anyone in England: why does the weather have to turn bad straight after we actually break up for the holidays?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You begin to see some more of Gerard's personality, but not much action. There will be more soon, I promise. ;)

When Gerard was sixteen and Mikey was thirteen, there had been this one time where Mikey had been sick and their parents, both being away on a business trip, were unable to look after him. In fear of Mikey sticking a fork in the toaster, not an unlikely thing to happen, and burning the house down if left on his own, Gerard had called in school and informed them neither one of them would be coming in today.

Gerard and Mikey had stayed in the living room together all day, squashed up on the sofa drinking hot chocolate - mixed in with a little cinnamon for Mikey, and a little vodka for Gerard - and watching horror movies than Mikey was far too young to watch and that Gerard was far too laid back to object to. It had been one of the greatest days of Gerard's life, and hell if that wasn't depressing. The fact was: Gerard was a depressed teenager, and sitting with the person he loved most in the world, relaxing and having fun and laughing at all the cheap, unrealistic gore whilst Mikey cowered in his place behind a plush cushion was his opinion of fun.

Then, after the movie had been taken out of the DVD player, the news had come on and they had sat in silence, listening as a piece about a teacher who had slept with his underage student flashed across the screen.

"It's sick, isn't it?" Mikey had exclaimed, shattering the comfortable silence that had descended upon them.

Gerard had frowned, not convinced. "But... If they're really in love, then surely -" he had started to object but Mikey had cut him off in that self-righteous way that all newly-turned-teenagers had.

"But he didn't love her! He's just a pervert! He just completely took advantage of her and she didn't know any better 'cause she was so young!"

Gerard didn't think seventeen was so young, but at that moment there had been a knock at the door and it had been Bert, Gerard's best friend, skipping school to see if he was okay. The argument was forgotten by the time Bert left.

***

Gerard felt sick. He had preyed on a seventeen year old - a kid! It didn't matter that Frank seemed to want it too, or that Frank had a scorpion tattoo on his neck that Gerard would eagerly sink his teeth into given half a chance. None of that mattered, because Frank was a student. And Gerard was his teacher.

What had been going through Frank's mind, Gerard wondered, when he had run away? Had he been going to tell someone? To get Gerard arrested? Not that Gerard didn't deserve it - what had he been thinking?

No, he wouldn't tell. He was scared, that was it. Gerard didn't have to imagine how scary it was to develop feelings for someone that you couldn't be with. All the same, Gerard couldn't help wishing that Frank hadn't run away. If he had stayed just a little longer, they could have talked about things. Sorted things out so that Gerard wasn't left feeling so on edge. Why hadn't he stopped him from running? Why hadn't he gone after him? Oh well. He would just have to take him out of his fifth lesson. Then Frank would have to talk to him.

***

Gerard was more than a little worried to discover Frank wasn't in his fifth lesson, although it wasn't entirely a surprise. Of course Frank would skip after what had happened. He debated going to Frank's friend, Ray Somethingorother with the big hair and high pitched voice, but then decided against it for several reasons. He didn't want Ray to suspect something, he didn't want anyone else to suspect something and, as petty as it sounded, he didn't want Frank to think he was desperate.

Gerard wanted Frank. It was as simple as that. Gerard was used to getting what he wanted, and for him to be denied Frank ... Well. It made him more than a little frustrated.

Gerard wasn't self centred. More like... self assured. He knew he was good looking. He could be aggressive when he wanted to be. He could be kind when he wanted to be but above all else he could be manipulative as hell when he wanted to be. As much as the thought of taking advantage of Frank repulsed him - he couldn't stand the thought of being a peadophile, Frank was someone's _son_! - the thought of making Frank want him back was appealing. He could leave Frank alone. He could pretend it never happened.

But it would be much more fun to tease Frank until the kid was throwing himself at Gerard.

Yeah. This was going to be fun, Gerard decided.

***

Gerard and Mikey didn't live together. They had both made that very clear to their parents once they both moved out. However, it was rare for them not to spend the night at each others' houses at least three times a week. What could they say? They were best friends, and as best friends they had a lot to talk about.

Gerard was at Mikey's place tonight, slumped on the couch and half watching The Evil Dead as Bruce Campbell debated whether or not to cut up his girlfriend with a chainsaw. He had Frank on the brain.

"Hey, Gee?" Mikey started as he walked back into the living room. He was carrying a box of takeaway pizza which he promptly refused to share with Gerard. Gerard, used to his brother's pizza-depreiving antics by now just sighed and uttered a bored, "Yes?"

"You don't by any chance teach a short kid, do you?"

Gerard snorted, rolled his eyes and turned the volume up on the TV. "I teach many short kids, Mikey. I work at a _school_."

Mikey punched his brother's arm lightly and continued. "No, I mean like an _old_ short kid. Dark hair, great hoodie, think he had some tattoos but I couldn't be sure."

Gerard, who had just heard a pretty accurate description of Frank, perked up and this and nodded eagerly. "Why?"

"'Cause I saw one today. In CC's, buying bad beer. He seemed pretty down. Said his name was Frank." Mikey was looking over at the older man and frowning. Whereas Mikey could always keep his emotions in check and keep quite a pretty impressive poker face - if he did say so himself - Gee couldn't. Mikey watched as a myriad of emotions flitted across his face. He saw him struggling to keep the smile off his face as he casually responded.

"Frank Iero? Sure, I teach him."

"Oh, you _do_ , huh?" Mikey drawled, raising an eyebrow at Gee who then sighed dramatically at Mikey.

"Just tell me what he said, bitch." He said bluntly, all pretences of not caring forgotten.

"He was complaining about a guy. Saying he liked him but he couldn't be with him. Seemed like a pretty sad situation if you ask me."

Gerard, who would usually have muttered something like, 'nobody asked you asshole' in any normal situation, chose to remain silent, instead opting to bite his bottom lip to the point where Mikey let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ok, spill."

And Gerard, being the honest, caring man he was, spilled. He wasn't really concentrating on what he was saying as he told Mikey the whole sorry story; a plan was already forming in his mind.

"Wait so... when he was talking about that guy... he was talking about you the whole time?" Gerard nodded absentmindedly and then sat up very straight, very alert.

"Mikey, when you were talking to him, you never mentioned my name, right? He doesn't know you're my brother?" Mikey shook his head slowly, cautiously.

"Good." Gerard turned to his little brother, who had been with him his whole life, who he knew would help him out in any situation if he asked. "Mikey: I have a plan, and I need your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Another update. I was feeling creative so I thought why not. This chapter may have been a little boring but it was necessary for what's coming up next. There will be more Frerard action in the next few chapters, I promise.  
> Thanks to those of you who have kept reading this story, however boring and dumb it is. Love ya ;)  
> As usual, like, comment, subscribe.  
> Enjoy! <3
> 
> P.S. I'm really thrilled with the reaction this is getting on AO3! I posted this on Quotev before AO3 and it only has about fifteen readers (and I love 'em all, don't worry Q) but wow thank you guys so much!x


	12. Chapter 12

Frank had thought about his 'situation' long and hard between mindlessly eating lukewarm noodles, rubbing body-wash into his hair by mistake during his evening shower and finally climbing into bed at two in the morning, and he had come to a conclusion: nothing could happen between himself and Mr Way. It just couldn't.

Not only was Frank a minor - not that it bothered him much, but he was using it as an excuse to justify his decision - but he was also Mr Way's student! It just wouldn't be right, and if anyone found out ... well. Everybody involved could get in serious trouble, Frank thought, and left it at that. God, what would his friends - ok, friend: Ray - think? What would his other teachers think? What would his mother think? Frank had only just got her back; he couldn't risk losing her again over something as petty as mindless, innocent, illegal flirting.

If Mr Way tried anything at school tomorrow, which Frank was sure he wouldn't, Frank would just be cool and distant and wouldn't respond with anything remotely friendly. He would be civil, but not so polite that he could be accused of sending his teacher mixed signals; despite how cute Mr Way's slightly upturned nose was, or how sweet his small, perfectly white teeth looked when he laughed, or how his fingers felt in Frank's hair... despite all of that, Frank would not be reciprocating any feelings. None whatsoever. Not at all.

Frank would just roll with it, and see where tomorrow took him.

***

Ray's battered old Subaru pulled up in Frank's driveway while Frank was still eating breakfast. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day in Frank's opinion and if you didn't like it? Well, shut the door behind you, thank you very much.

Ray beamed at Frank who glared back at him sleepily, still holding a half eaten, slightly burnt pop tart in his right hand and a Wheatabix breakfast drink in the other. When Ray seemed content to do nothing but stand there and smile happily at Frank until Frank moved his 'lazy ass into the back seat because my back called shotgun', Frank sighed and moved out of the way.

"Get in here asshole." Frank groaned regretfully, struggling not to spill his drink all over the carpet as Ray bounded inside, grinning like a cat when Frank cursed at him.

"I act as your personal chauffeur, Frankie baby, the least you can do is make me breakfast." he argued and, sadly, Frank had to agree with his logic.

"Well screw you too Toro." Frank mumbled angrily as he half crushed a chocotastic pop tart whilst stuffing it into the toaster. He narrowly avoided getting a drink coaster in the back of the head; Ray would never misbehave in front of Linda Iero, no matter how hungry he was.

"Watch what you say Frank." She warned jokingly, shooting Frank a warning stare and Ray a happy smile. Frank scowled at just how fucking unfair it was that his own mother preferred the Toro Monster to her own son, and Ray just smirked and put his feet up on the table, reclining on the chair.

"Morning Mrs Iero!" Ray chirped, and Frank snorted. Loser was a total suck up; the action only earned him an elbow to his ribs though. "How've you been?"

"Not too bad Ray. And yourself?"

"Ah, can't complain. Frankie here makes sure I hand all my homework in on time at least."

Frank couldn't help but giggle girlishly at this because he was pretty sure it was a year since Ray last handed in a piece of homework. Ray stuck his tongue out at him and that was it for Frank. Grabbing Ray's arm, he said goodbye to his mother and shut the door with a bang behind him.

"Hey! I never got my pop tart!" Ray complained angrily, turning his key in the ignition of his car like a six year old child sulking. Frank didn't answer; he was too busy worrying about his History lesson first period. He had a lesson today and one lesson last period on Thursday, and that was it for the week. He was dreading going through just one week - how was he supposed to survive an entire year? Maybe he could change his timetable? Get put in another class? Get another teacher?

 ***

"Frank? Frank!" Ray exclaimed, punching his friend's arm playfully. Frank had been so caught up in thinking about his problems that he hadn't noticed Ray had been yelling his name loud enough for the people walking up the street to turn and stare at them.

"Huh? What?" Frank mumbled apologetically.

"I asked where you went yesterday? You never skip, so what happened?"

Frank sighed. What to tell Ray? He could tell him the truth? But then... what was the truth? Telling him that he had kissed Mr Way wasn't true. Not really. But he didn't want to lie to his best friend, his only friend.

So he settled on saying, "I didn't feel too good after fourth. I just wanted to go home before I puked."

It wasn't a lie exactly. Frank had felt like he was going to puke ... after he had downed a couple of drinks and had time to think about everything that had gone down. Ray accepted the lie without argument though, deciding not to call Frank out or ask him why he didn't at least text him to let him know, and Frank was grateful for that.

They pulled up and parked in the teacher's car park because unlike Frank, Ray couldn't give two shits about rules and regulations, and it was closer to the school than the regular car park. They walked in together quickly, trying not to be noticed as they dashed across the school grounds towards their homeroom. Frank didn't want to get called up on skipping yesterday.

Frank and Ray talked all throughout tutor time and by the time Frank had a chance to look around and process where the morning had gone, he was already standing in his familiar history room, staring at his seemingly innocent seat in the middle of the room. Frank shuddered at the memory of yesterday, unaware that the man in question was in fact standing right behind him, watching him react to his memories and smirking at him.

Frank just about got a heart attack when he felt a rush of hot air on his neck and a voice in his ear, whispering, "Are you going to stand and stare at it, or actually go and sit in it?"

Frank went red and the class laughed at his embarrassment like the drama-hungry hyenas they all were, leaving Frank to shuffle to his seat with a lump in his throat. So much for trying to avoid contact with Mr Way.

"So, class," Mr Way began, addressing the students, "I know it's the first lesson and you all want to go to sleep... but tough shit. This is my class, and in my class you have to pay attention if you want to avoid... punishments."

Oh God.

Ohgodohgodohgod.

Mr Way was _totally_ looking at Frank when he said that and there was no way he could have missed the shiver that went through Frank's entire body when he said that. What the hell was he doing?! He was the teacher! He was supposed to be the mature one! Not the one pushing things to go further.

"So, you should all have your notes from yesterday's lesson. You're all required to write a two-thousand word essay surrounding what you see as the most important set of notes from yesterday's documentary. Now, originally I was going to set this as homework but I'm feeling generous. You can start it in the lesson now; if you finish it: great, no homework for you. If not, then complete it at home and hand it in tomorrow."

A ripple of excited, hushed whispering went through the class; everyone was obviously happy not to have been given more work to do at home. Frank however, who had stumbled to his chair embarrassedly, was glowering at his desk, pointedly ignoring his teacher and that stupid smug grin on his face. How had he never seen Mr Way for the annoying asshole he really was?

And then - _oh_. Mr Way was _definitely_ mocking him now, because he knew Frank didn't have the notes for class. He hadn't got any work done in his 'detention' yesterday lunch time, and of course he wasn't going to go home and do more work for History class after what had happened. He was in trouble now.

Mr Way, to Frank's complete and utter horror, began walking over to his desk. Frank genuinely thought he was going to say something, something loud and humiliating and incriminating in front of all Frank's classmates, so he breathed out a little sigh of relief when all he did was drop a piece of crumpled paper on the desk. Looking down, Frank saw half a page of work notes in Mr Way's messy, scribbled handwriting.

"You ought to be more careful with your things, Iero. You left that in my classroom yesterday." And then he winked, like the cocky, arrogant douchebag he was.

Frank went red and immediately looked around the room, checking to see if anybody had clocked their teacher's weird behaviour, but of course nobody was even paying the slightest attention to them. Why would they? They were all hurriedly getting on with their work so they didn't have to do it for homework. Something that Frank himself would have been doing, if Mr Way wasn't distracting him with sexy winks and provocative word choices. Asshole.

Whatever. Frank had made a promise to himself that Mr Way's teasing wouldn't get to him. He had sworn he would stay away from his teacher. If only said teacher wasn't making it so difficult to keep that promise.

He didn't bother thanking Mr Way for the notes, and instead decided to get stuck into the work so he didn't have to spend any longer than necessary with the irritating man.

Halfway through the lesson, Frank looked up from his desk to see Mr Way was no longer at the front of the class, and then promptly had a heart attack when the very man himself put his hands on the back of Frank's chair. Managing to stop himself from screaming in fear, Frank took a deep breath to calm himself and in doing so inhaled whatever cologne Mr Way used that morning. It was intoxicating.

"Finding the work okay, Iero?" Mr Way leaned down and whispered into Frank's ear, his warm breath ghosting over Frank's neck as the boy shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes sir." Frank croaked out, cringing when his voice broke.

"Good." And then Mr Way's hands were on his shoulders and moving down his arms to his elbows and it was times like these that Frank really wished he sat at the back of the class. A thought briefly crossed his mind but he dispelled it immediately, the contact his teacher was giving him was enough to disorientated him. It was something like, 'I'm pretty sure this is assault', and yeah. If Frank had been more alert and was able to think straight, this would have felt a lot like assault, but as it was, Frank couldn't care less. All he wanted was _more_ ; _more_ contact, _more_ whispered words, _more Mr Way._

Just as Mr Way's hands were about to reach Frank's waist - and Frank couldn't help but marvel at how soft they felt through his clothes, and how soft they would feel without his clothes - Mr Way stood and pulled away, acting as if nothing had happened. He walked away without a backwards glance, leaving Frank flustered and red in the face. When the bell rung for next lesson, Frank was the first out of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I split this chapter in half because otherwise it would have been too long, but the next chapter will be up soon. Sorry for not updating in a while - I went to visit my grandma which was lovely but unfortunately she has no wifi so yeah. Enjoy! <3


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you sure about this, Gee? I mean, isn't this technically illegal?" Mikey asked worriedly, speaking down his mobile as he hurried to the address his brother had given him.

"It's only illegal if we sleep together." Gerard's muffled voice came out of his speakers and Mikey winced at his bluntness.

"Actually, you can be arrested for any kind of sexual ...  _encounter_ with a student. That makes you a criminal. Oh God. Does that make me an accessory to a crime?!" Mikey began to panic, almost tripping over his own feet as they slapped down hard on the concrete ground, the noise echoing along the empty street. 

"Mikey! Calm the fuck down. You're not doing anything  _illegal._ You're simply taking a walk at the same time that Frank may or may not be arriving home. Okay?"

As opposed to answering, Mikey took a deep breath and visibly relaxed when Frank's street came into view. There was a sea of school children, all dressed in the same ugly, blue uniform, floods down the pavement and some even spelling onto the road. The sound of everyone talking and laughing and shrieking was a dull roar, deafening, and Mikey had to shout, 'what?' down his phone to get Gerard to repeat what he said. The older students were easy to pick out of the crowd, as they wore their own clothes, and Mikey even thought he saw Frank's black hair and tattooed arms in the crowd.

"You have the right address, don't you?" Gerard checked, a little of the anxiety he was feeling creeping into his voice.

"I'm where you told me to be." Mikey replied in a monotone, slightly sick of aiding his brother in his weird, perverted quest to seduce a student.

"And you know what to say?"

"Fuck my brother?" Mikey drawled sarcastically, giggling when Gerard exploded on the other end.

"Mikey! Be serious, please?"

Mikey sighed, exasperated. Gerard was no fun since he started pining after a minor.

"Yes, Gerard, I know what to say." Mikey took a deep breath as he was enveloped by the crowd. Frank got closer and closer, and Mikey could pinpoint the exact moment Frank clocked him heading in the opposite direction, shouting down the phone like a lunatic. If only he knew what they were talking about...

***

Frank had been more than relieved when school got out. He hadn't had a free period all day and he had forgotten what it was like to have to sit in five lessons a day. His ass was aching from having to sit in an uncomfortable, blue plastic chair that looked more suited to seating seven year olds than seventeen year olds, and all he wanted was to go home, lie in bed and sleep. Ideally, Ray would have given him a lift home but Ray had to stay after school to discuss his behaviour with a biology teacher - asshole  _deserved_ to be called an asshole in Ray's opinion - so Framk had to walk home all by himself, surrounded by screaming children. The exercise only served to make Frank _more_ ready for sleep when he arrived home, but he was still pleasantly surprised and ready to socialise when he saw Mikey walking towards him, yelling down his phone over the buzz of conversation.

When he saw Frank he grinned and said, "I gotta go, I'll call you back."

"Hey man! What's up?" Mikey beamed enthusiastically, shoving his phone into his pocket. 

"Not much. What're you doing here?" Frank asked curiously. 

"Just going to meet my girlfriend. Hey, how's your situation going? Did you talk to the guy?" Mikey asked, cutting to straight to the chase to dispel any chance of small talk. Frank was somewhat relieved not to have to talk about the weather with this guy, but when the topic of his teacher came up, he would have been more than happy to discuss the crappy weather they'd been having recently.

"Um, no. Like, no. Not exactly." Frank mumbled, sort of but not really embarrassed at having ignored Mikey's advice. "I thought about it and, like, it's not worth it. The trouble, I mean. It's not worth the trouble it would cause."

On that, Mikey had to agree with the kid, but he had to stick to the script Gerard had given him or there would be hell to pay. Mikey was Gerard's unofficial wingman. He felt bad lying to Frank, but he would feel worse going against Gerard's wishes; especially since it had been ages since Gerard last developed feelings for. He didn't want to screw this up for his brother, even if he did think it was wrong.

"Ah no. Really? Why?"

Frank shrugged awkwardly as the sea of children parted around them and eventually dissapeared down the hill on the other side of Frank's street, taking the noise with them. Once they were alone they were free to move, and Frank took the opportunity to go and sit on the wall surrounding the red-brick houses. Mikey followed and sat down next to him, watching him concernedly. 

"Don't you like him anymore?" Mikey continued, pressuring Frank to give an answer.

"Of course I still like him."

"Does he like you?"

"I don't know." Frank answered truthfully. "I _think_ he does. I'd like him too, but it totally wouldn't make sense if he did. I mean, like, he's a proper _man_ and shit, and I'm just me. I'm just a kid."

"Well then what's stopping you? Go ahead and just ... ask him out?" Mikey had to bite his tongue to stop him blurting out Gerard's name. That would have completely ruined their - no, _Gerard's_ \- plan.

Frank bit his lip and looked up at Mikey through his eyelashes. Mikey seemed like a cool guy. He had a good taste in music, and alcohol, and he gave good advice. Frank could trust him ... right?

"Okay, promise you won't judge me?" Frank asked in a quiet voice. When Mikey nodded and raised his eyebrows Frank decided to just go with it. If he could just tell somebody and get a second opinion, preferably someone who didn't know him, then he would feel a lot more relaxed.

"The guy's my teacher." He blurted out before he could change his mind, and then he turned his head away from Mikey so he couldn't see the blush that crept up Frank's neck and onto his face. Admitting to something so embarrassing was enough to make Frank want to curl up into a ball and have the earth swallow him.

"I see. But ... if nobody found out, you'd be okay, right?"

Huh? That was _not_ what Frank had been expecting.

"I - I _guess_. But isn't it still wrong? It's _illegal!"_

Mikey shot Frank a pointed look. "So is underage drinking." Frank blushed again. "What I'm saying, kid, is: if it feels good, don't knock it. If he likes you and you like him then it shouldn't be wrong, whatever it is. You get me?"

Frank nodded slowly. Mikey smiled.

There was a loud crashing noise that made both men jump, and it took a while for both of them to realise it was Mikey's phone, vibrating from in his jean pocket. Mikey pulled it out and glanced at the screen: Gerard. He quickly clicked ' _decline'_  before Frank could see it.

"So ... I gotta scram. Alicia's getting impatient. But think about what I said, yeah?"

Frank nodded reverently and stood up, shoving his phone into Mikey's face.

"Do you wanna give me your number, then we can, like, communicate?" Frank coughed from the awkwardness of it all, but felt a little of the tension drain from his body when Mikey accepted his request and called him quickly before ending the call so Frank would have his number.

Immediately after they parted ways, Mikey's phone rang. Gerard again. Mikey looked over his shoulder to see Frank disappearing into one of the houses along the street, and so was safe to answer the call.

"He bought it?" Gerard asked straight away, not giving Mikey a chance to even say 'hi'.

"He bought it." Mikey confirmed, sighing guiltily.

"You got his number?" 

"U-huh." Mikey replied. "Gee, I did everything you told me to. Stop checking up."

"You know what to do next?" Gerard was relentless.

"Yes! Goddammit, Gerard! I know the plan! I helped _make_ the plan!"

Gerard hung up on him without saying goodbye, satisfied that everything had happened the way it was supposed to, and Mikey swallowed the lump in his throat. Was this the right thing to do? Setting his brother up with a minor? Not only that, but a minor they had manipulated into thinking the relationship was okay. That could get them arrested for sure. 

Mikey just hoped Gerard knew what he was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okai! I finally figured out how to use italic on AO3, yay! Everybody celebrate.   
> So, Mikey and Gerard are manipulative sods. How mean. Poor Frankie.  
> Also, let me participate in some shameless self promoting, it would mean a lot to me if you guys could check out my new Frerad fanfic 'He Likes Me'. Thanks!  
> Enjoy! <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be the last chapter for a while because I'm going on holiday and I don't know if will have wifi on a campsite in Switzerland. But I will write a lot and have more chapters to post when I get back!

Thursday brought a whole new set of problems for Frank, such as how he hadn't bothered to do the English homework his teacher had set him or how his band - consisting of Frank, Ray and an angry asshole who beat the shit out of the drums called Bob - hadn't had a gig for at least a month and Frank's money supply was running low. He hated borrowing cash off his mother because he  _knew_ she didn't have much anyway. All the nice things she had at the moment had been bought her by Daniel, and now he was gone she was struggling to even pay the bills. If Frank asked, he knew his mom would give him however much he asked for, but he still felt terrible taking and not giving anything back except attitude.

Mrs Iero had been trying to find a job ever since her split from Daniel, with little success. She had managed to snag the night shift at a 7/11 store down the road from the school but her hours were odd and she had become sort of nocturnal, sleeping in the day so she would be able to stay awake during her shift.

Frank knew it was really time to intervene when his mom stumbled down the stairs Thursday morning, stressing that Frank needed to get to school before Daniel woke up so she could make his breakfast for him. It took Frank a whole ten minutes to talk his mother down from her panic so that she remembered that Daniel no longer lived with them. He convinced her to take the day - or the night - off and decided it was time for him to get a real job. Screaming into a microphone on stage in a dank, dirty club was fun, sure, and it didn't pay too bad, but gigs were far and few between and what with school - for Ray and Frank - and university - for Bob - they hadn't been able to get hired for a while.

So yeah, Frank had a lot of problems before he left for school on Thursday, but none of them worried him as much as the question of what he was going to wear.

Today was the day, he decided, that he would sort things out with Mr Way. He would either give in to Mr Way's teasing - and open himself up for rejection and humiliation if it turned out he had been wrong about Mr Way wanting him - or he would seduce Mr Way himself.

It was with this in mind that Frank picked out a pair of black skinny jeans - tight enough to show off his legs but not so tight as to prevent him breathing, because he was pretty sure passing out was not an attractive feat. Next came the shirt, and Frank picked a plain white t-shirt that clung to Frank's chest, showing the dark stains of tattoos across his back, chest and stomach. If you looked close enough, you could even see the swallows peeking out from the top of Frank's jeans.

Frank's school had a no make-up allowed rule - claiming that 'you are beautiful as you are' - but that rule was about as popular as Frank was in middle school, so Frank raided his mother's bathroom until he found the eyeliner and mascara. It wasn't the first time he wore eyeliner, he usually applied it when he went on stage to perform, but it would be the first time he'd worn it to school, and he could already imagine the reaction. Ray would laugh and tease him about wanting to impress someone, people who didn't even know Frank would look at him and call him a 'fag', probably laugh at him, but there was only one person's reaction Frank cared about.

He didn't know if Mr Way was into eyeliner; maybe seeing Frank doing something so blatantly obvious as to wear make-up would make him realise what a mistake he was making, but hey. You don't know until you try something, right?

Frank waited twenty more minutes for Ray to pull up outside his house until he couldn't wait any longer, and he pulled his phone out and sent his friend a text.

_Where are you?! Gonna kick your ass if we're late again._

Almost immediately a reply pinged back and Frank fumbled to grab his phone to see what had been sent.

_Sorry, something came up, you're gonna have to walk. And as if you could take me in a fight, I'd knock you out midget._

Frank growled in frustration when he read the text, making a mental note to stick gum in Ray's hair the next time he saw him; it would be entertaining watching the guy try to get it out of his fro without causing himself pain.

Frank forgot to grab a jacket when he stepped outside, so he really shouldn't have been surprised when the rain started, what with the weather they'd been having lately, he should have expected it. Still, what with Frank's shifty immune system and the constant, heavy rain that soaked him through to the bone, he was shivering and his lips were blue by the time he arrived at school.

Just as he was about to walk in through the school gates, he got that feeling again, like the time in the park when he skipped school. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his arms got goosebumps that had nothing to do with the cold or the rain. Someone was watching him. Frank turned around and scanned the surrounding area, but couldn't see anyone. He was late, so there was no one else walking to school, and everyone else was staying inside due to the rain. There was no one there; but Frank knew - he just _knew -_ there was someone watching him. He shivered and walked inside.

***

He was given a detention in English for not having completed his homework, and he was mildly grateful for that because at least it gave him somewhere to be other than outside in the pouring rain. He hadn't seen Ray all day and despite calling him and texting him several times, he had received no reply.

He had caught several people shooting him weird looks throughout the day and it was only when his chemistry did a double take when Frank walked into the classroom and then coughed awkwardly, trying to pretend he hadn't been staring at Frank, did Frank remember he was wearing eyeliner, which was probably smudged and smeared all over his face by now due to the rain and Frank's habit of rubbing his eyes when he got nervous.

Despite Frank's attempts to stay out of the rain, he had no choice but to walk outside to get the the history blocks as they had been made seperate from the rest of the school a few years ago. They were a row of wooden huts a good five minutes walk from the main school building that were meant to be temporary when they were first built, but the school had never got round to building new history classrooms. So of course, Frank was soaking wet _and_ late when he arrived in history.

Not that Frank was complaining. Well, he kind of was, because he just _knew_ he would get sick from this, but he actually thought the rain made him look better. His white t-shirt was see through and sticking to his skin, making his tattoos even more visible. His hair was dripping wet and matted to his face, giving him the appearance of just having stepped out of the shower. He had dark make-up smeared around his eyes and it contrasted startlingly with his pale skin. He chewed on his lip ring nervously as he stood outside the door. He could hear Mr Way addressing the class inside and knew everyone would turn and look at him when he opened the door. He had to look confident when he walked in so, taking a deep breath, he plastered a smug looking grin on his face and hoped nobody would see through it.

Frank was right; everybody _did_ look at him when he opened the door. It was deadly silent for a few seconds, and when Frank turned to look at his teacher, he was pleased to see Mr Way's eyes were wide and he was quite obviously checking Frank out. He saw Mr Way's eyes flit to his stomach and the older man swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

The boy moved to sit down, but when he looked at his seat he realised someone else was already sitting there. He turned to Mr Way, confused, losing his previous confidence.

"Ah, Frank. We thought you weren't coming so we let Brendon here have your seat."

There was no explanation as to who Brendon was or why he was in the class, so Frank assumed he was a new kid. He shot Frank a somewhat apologetic smile which Frank returned happily - he wasn't about to be rude to someone who might want to be his friend. He looked cool enough, with brown hair flopping over his eyes and a black t-shirt with a logo on that Frank couldn't quite read.

"Why don't you sit down here, Frank." Mr Way suggested - but it was more like a command - gesturing to a seat on the front row. Right in front of his desk.

_Perfect._

Frank couldn't pay attention throughout Mr Way's introductory speech; he found himself watching the older man for signs that he was looking at Frank. There were a couple of times where Frank would look down deliberately and then look up again quickly, catching Mr Way looking at him before turning his head quickly when he saw he'd been caught. Frank smirked, glad his efforts were working.

However, once half an hour was already gone, Frank began to feel mildly horrified that Mr Way hadn't come over to his desk and asked if he needed 'help' like he had been doing for the past three days. It was Frank's last lesson of the day - of the _week_ \- and if he couldn't get Mr Way in that time he would be left worrying all weekend, so Frank decided to step up his game.

He waited till Mr Way was looking at him and then he very obviously slipped a hand under the table. He placed it on his thigh and started rubbing it, moving his hand up and down very slowly. To any of the other students, it would just look like he was scratching his leg or some other innocent move - he wasn't about to start jerking off in class - but because Mr Way's desk was pressed up against the first row of tables in the classroom, he wouldn't be able to see that it was in fact his leg Frank was touching, and it wouldn't look so innocent.

He locked eyes with Mr Way, who was once again looking awestruck, his eyes so wide Frank was surprised it didn't _hurt,_ but when he knew for sure his teacher was watching, he let out a quiet little moan, covering it up with a cough. To the students, it looked like Frank really was coughing, but Mr Way would see the coughing fit as it really was: a cover up. 

Frank, growing bolder and bolder as he saw Mr Way's grip tighten on his pen and his breaths became more laboured as he didn't take his eyes off Frank, went as far as to throw his head back a little bit, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his leg faster. He had to stop this pretty quickly because the people next to him were shooting him weird looks that probably weren't related to his make-up this time, so instead of exposing his neck tattoo again, Frank let out a long breath and stilled his hand movements, knowing what Mr Way would think of this. He had to say, he almost laughed when his teacher almost choked on his breath and stuttered out, "Frank, can I speak to you after class, please?"

After that, Frank kept his head down until the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. He was grinning to himself all lesson, but when the bell rang he really thought about what he'd done. He'd faked an orgasm in class to get at his teacher. What if he had been misreading the signs all along and Mr Way wasn't into him like he'd thought? What if -

Frank didn't notice everyone in class leave until it was only him and Mr Way left in class. He didn't notice Mr Way getting up and locking the door. He did, however, notice when all this had been done that he was in a locked classroom all alone with his insanely attractive teacher who he may or may not have pretended to jerk off to. And now said teacher was looking at him as if he wanted to kill Frank. Or fuck him. Or possibly both.

Just when the silence got to be so awkward that Frank was on the brink of saying something, Mr Way moved before he could even open his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'll leave you with that cliffhanger so I can go to Switzerland. Yay! Holiday!  
> Sorry if the chapters are getting smaller and smaller; so is my brain so it's related, y'know.  
> Enjoy! <3


	15. Chapter 15

Before Frank could blink to process what was going on, he was being shoved against the wall and held there. Mr Way was pinning Frank's hands above his head, holding them against the wall as he pressed his hips against Frank's, completely trapping him between the classroom wall and his teacher. The feeling of Gerard's lower body pressed flush against his own was divine - better than anything Frank could have imagined - and he would have moaned if his mouth hadn't been otherwise engaged.

Mr Way had started kissing him as soon as he was close enough; in fact, his mouth had been on Frank's before the younger boy even hit the wall. Frank had opened his mouth to allow for Mr Way's tongue without even thinking about it, so he was mildly surprised when he opened his eyes again to find Mr Way's face inches away from his own. He had to stop himself from snapping his mouth closed in shock, finally pushing back against Gerard when his slow-as-fuck brain finally realised what was going on. He was kissing his teacher, and it felt amazing. Really, truly amazing.

In that moment, it didn't matter that Mr Way was older than him, or that Frank wasn't legal, or that Frank was the other man's student. Nothing mattered except Mr Way, who was rubbing Frank's tongue with his own and pressing his knee in between Frank's thighs to spread his legs. It was only when Mr Way slid a hand up Frank's shirt, his fingers skirting Frank's tattooed torso and chest lightly - just enough to raise goosebumps - that Frank realised where they were, and that they couldn't do this here.

"Mr Way, stop!" Frank gasped out, whining pathetically when Mr Way dipped from attacking his mouth to suck on his neck. That would probably leave very noticeable, very obvious bruises by tomorrow, but they were both too far gone to care. When Mr Way didn't stop - although Frank hadn't really been expecting him to, he had sounded half hearted and needy when he spoke - Frank tried again, attempting to sound more certain and sure of himself this time so his teacher might actually listen to him.

"Sir, stop!" Frank demanded, even going so far as to squirm awkwardly out of Mr Way's grasp. He pulled away, his eyes flashing and his pupils blown, and grinned deviously.

"Why?" He asked in a low purr, and shit, that wasn't helping Frank's case. He had a hard enough time persuading himself that they needed to stop, and if he didn't believe himself, why should Mr Way take any notice of him? "Why would I stop..." He took a step closer to Frank, who trembled but couldn't get any further away from the man in his position pressed up against the wall. "When I could make you feel so good?"

Frank's knees buckled at that, and he was sure he would have collapsed if Mr Way had not pounced on Frank then, kissing the life out of him so that Frank could barely break the kisses to breathe, let alone talk. Mr Way moved from Frank's mouth to his jaw, biting it lightly, enough to feel great, but not enough to hurt. He flicked his tongue over the flesh between his teeth and Frank breathed out suddenly, his eyes slipping closed. He could feel his resolve wavering. Frank felt a hand snake down his stomach and close around his crotch and then it all hit him again like a train, slamming into him at full force because this was his teacher, his classroom, and they needed to stop!

"Not here." Frank breathed out, whimpering when Mr Way let go of him - all of him - and stepped away, looking suitably messed up and gorgeous as ever. His hair was sticking up at off angled and Frank then realised he had probably been running his hands through it the second they were released from Mr Way's vice like grasp above his head. His lips were swollen and pink and beautiful and his shirt was rumpled. Frank could only imagine how much worse he looked. He probably had a hickey on his neck the size of New Jersey and a very obvious boner that would be noticeable to anyone who saw him. Frank was almost upset with his teacher for stopping when he did, with Frank all excited and willing and turned on, until he realised it had been his idea to stop. "Not here - we can't here." Frank said again, sounding more confident now he wasn't being bombarded with tongue and teeth.

"You're right" Mr Way mumbled under his breath, more to himself than to his student. He looked torn, like half of him wanted to carry on till Frank caved and let him, and the other half of him wanted to listen to Frank - listen to sanity - and stop. Thankfully, or not depending on how you looked at it, he listened to sanity and took a few steps backwards whilst Frank concentrated on willing his boner away. There were a million gross, turny-offy things he could think about: dead puppies, old men in bikinis, hetero porn magazines, he was overwhelmed just thinking about all the disgusting options. Then he thought about Mr Way's low, seductive voice telling Frank how good he could make him feel and the feeling of Mr Way's hands, fingers cold to the touch even through Frank's slacks, and all his efforts were wasted. He just figured he would wear his school bag across his front to try and cover up the front of his pants.

"We should go to my house." Mr Way suggested happily, smiling at Frank, who very nearly choked on his next breath of hot, stuffy air. It was so weird and unexpected and Frank had only ever seen a teacher out of school once before - seeing Mrs Roberts buying condoms was possibly the worst memory of his life - that the thought of being in his History teacher's house made him very uncomfortable. Then he remembered how Mr Way's teeth had dug into the flesh on his neck and jawline and then yeah, then it sounded like the best idea Frank had heard all day.

Frank nodded and allowed himself to be pulled out from behind the first row of desks and to the door. He caught a glimpse of Mr Way's desk and almost objected to leaving, almost changed his mind because sex on desks was freakin' hot, but Frank didn't really want his first time to be like something in a cheap porno.

He hoped Mr Way wouldn't be freaked out by Frank being a virgin and, like, refuse to do anything with him because of it. Frank had had boyfriends, sure, but being the unloveable shit he was, he had never gone all the way before. Maybe his teacher would like being Frank's first? Maybe he would think it was hot? Maybe he would think-

"We should probably leave at different times. Or like, do you drive? You could follow me in my car?"

Frank, startled out of his daze by his teacher's comment, swallowed and tried to focus on the matter at hand. Did he drive? No.

"Um, no. I - I don't drive. And actually, I should get home or my mom will be worried." Frank tried not to let the disappointment show in his voice, but it was hard when he saw Mr Way's face fall. He hurried to continue speaking; Mr Way's smile was so beautiful he didn't want it to disappear because of him. "I could come round later if you want? If you give me your address?"

Frank watched his teacher's face for any sings of discomfort or reluctance at the latest suggestion, but his face just brightened adorably, the skin around his eyes crinkling as the corners of his mouth lifted upwards. He nodded eagerly and Frank felt his worry drain away. This was Mr Way. He was smart and beautiful and nice and Frank had known him for at least three years, maybe not as a potential lover but as a role model. Maybe even a father figure, Frank dared himself to think, but then quickly dispelled the idea because the thought of screwing his father made Frank retch.

The older man began to scribble something down on a piece of paper and then handed it to Frank. It was the handwriting he had seen on his History papers for three years now and it was the same handwriting that was on his written report; and now it was on a torn sheet of notebook paper, burning a hole in Frank's pocket as he left the classroom, looking particularly disheveled, after Mr Way.

"Seven?" Mr Way asked in a low voice so only Frank could hear, and the younger boy nodded eagerly. He would go home, show his face to his mother, possibly eat something, possibly get drunk and then make an excuse to get out. Maybe he'd say he was going out with Ray, or possibly on a date - it wasn't exactly a lie - and then get to Mr Way's house for ... What? Sex? A make out session? Frank didn't know what to expect, but he knew he was ready for it, whatever 'it' was.

"Seven." Frank confirmed, smiling shyly. Now that they were no longer in the safe, warn cocoon of the classroom, instead standing by Mr Way's silver Subaru - why did everyone Frank knew have a Subaru? - he felt nervous, like all his imperfections would be visible in the light of day. He kind of wished he never asked to leave the classroom; in doing so, he had effectively given Mr Way an opportunity to reject him.

"Mr Way?" Frank asked quietly. "What's your name?"

It was something Frank had been questioning for a while, puzzling over what it could be. It would have to be something different, unique, quirky, just like the man himself. He didn't know what prompted him to ask right then, but the thought of moaning out 'Mr Way' during sex just made Frank blush. If he could say the guy's first name then maybe he would be able to create a sort of barrier between his home life and his life as Frank's teacher. Then maybe Frank wouldn't feel so guilty.

"Gerard." He replied, smiling with half his mouth in that way that made Frank want to grab him and kiss him, and Gerard, Frank decided, was a nice name. A fitting name. A beautiful name.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, this would probably have been posted yesterday but: we went for a one and a half hour walk that turned out to be four hours, it started raining half way through and didn't stop so we were completely drenched and freezing, when we got back to our tent it had been flooded so most of my books and clothes were wet, my IPad was on 4% charge and it was too dark to read a book. I was in a baaaad mood. But all is good now so yay!   
> Enjoy! <3


	16. Chapter 16

When Frank got home he slammed the door behind him, decidedly ignoring his mother and rushing to the bathroom. The worst case scenario - the one he had been torturing himself by playing over and over again in his mind ever since he left school - was that he would get there, Gerard would see him and come to his senses, and send Frank on his way. He wouldn't want Frank when it was about to happen, and Frank would get horribly humiliated, what with having to see him again in class.

No. Frank wouldn't let that happen; he had to look and feel his best. That meant a half hour shower - at least - followed by an even longer time deciding what to wear and how much make up to wear. He figured skinny jeans were a no-no, because everyone knew there was nothing worse than trying to wriggle your way out of skin-tight denim in a hurry. But skinny jeans and sweat pants were all Frank had, and sweat pants aren't all that attractive.

Frank's half an hour shower turned out to be fifteen minutes, because his mother had used all the hot water and Frank couldn't bear to stand under the freezing cold spray for any longer than he absolutely had to, so after shampooing his hair twice and lathering body lotion everywhere, he stepped out and wrapped at towel around himself.

He was nervous; there was no denying that. He was about to lose his virginity to his teacher, of all people. That was a big deal, in Frank's opinion, and he only hoped Gerard would be caring and considerate and not rush into it. It was going to be awkward enough as it was, let alone with Frank having to stop him halfway through and chicken out. Just as Frank was beginning to consider just not going and changing history classes - because there would be no way he could face Gerard after standing him up - the phone rang. For a second, in his blind panic, Frank thought if would be Gerard but of course, Gerard didn't have his number so it couldn't have been.

"Hi." Frank heard as soon as he clicked accept. He breathed out a sigh of relief that the voice on the other end of the line was his best friend Ray and not, in fact, his teacher. "Sorry about this morning dude. I had to take my mom to her yoga class 'cause her lift bailed, and I threw up at the sight of middle aged women in funny positions. Stayed at home all day."

Frank giggled and a wave of relief washed over him; Ray was always able to make him laugh, even if it was unintentionally, and this time was no exception. He thought about telling him about Gerard and everything that had happened recently - now he thought about it, he still hasn't told his best friend that his step-father had moved out of the house and was, hopefully, never coming back. Then he dispelled the idea with a shake of his head. Later, maybe.

"It's fine. I mean, I walked in the freezing rain and I probably got hypothermia from it you asshole, but I hope you're better now." Frank replied, trying to play down the gratitude he felt.

"I am, yeah, thanks. I should be in school tomorrow so bring an extra pop tart for me?"

"Always, Toro. Always." This time Frank couldn't hold back his peal of laughter and scowled playfully into his phone, even though he knew Ray couldn't see him.

"Anyway! I have news!" Ray enthused, and Frank's heart rate picked up at his sudden exclamation. Maybe he knew about Frank and Mr Way? Maybe he was going to say that Mr Way had been arrested? What would happen then, would Frank be expelled?"

"What?" Frank croaked out anxiously, his tongue hanging heavy in his mouth as he waited for the words that would seal his fate.

"I got us a gig! Saturday night in town; we're playing for some bar whose usual band bailed on them. We've got a two hour set so we're gonna need to brush up on some covers as well as original songs, but that's okay, right?"

Frank's heart soared at the thought of not only more money and business opportunities, but also at the fact that he hadn't been caught out, he was still attending his school and his ... teacher? Romantic interest? Whatever Gerard was to Frank, had not been sent to jail.

"Great. That's really great. You told Bob yet?" Frank asked, smiling. It's been ages since he'd last been able to play the guitar; they hadn't gotten a gig in a while and Daniel always complained bitterly whenever Frank played in the house. It was ingrained into him never to play indoors or bad things would happen; Frank cursed his step-father as he came to realise that part of him would probably never leave. The fact that Daniel had affected Frank's guitar playing forever was enough to put Frank in a bad mood, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to be happy. He had a date tonight, after all.

"Yup. He said he could make it but he didn't sound too happy about it." Ray sighed melodramatically; this wasn't anything new. Bob always sounded angry about everything.

"Probably just having a bad day or something." Frank suggested before hurrying to hang up. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to his best friend, but he had an hour and a half left to get ready and he couldn't waste any time. "Listen, I've gotta go. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Bye, Frankie." Ray said, and Frank murmured a sound of farewell before hanging up and just about hurling his phone to the other side of the room in shock when he noticed his mother standing at his door, watching him.

"You're going out? Got a date?" She asked, smirking slightly and crossing her arms. Frank groaned; he knew he would never get out of the house if he admitted he was going on a date - because he was kind of going on a date - and he hated lying to his mother.

"Yes. No. I am going out, but not on a date." Frank said sternly, rifling through his wardrobe for something acceptable to wear. Why was it that all his life, he'd never been bothered by clothes or how fashionable he was or how good he looked? It was really coming back to bite him in the ass now.

"So where you going?" She persisted and Frank had to bite his tongue to stop himself from making a snide remark about how she only cared now. That would hurt his mother, he knew, and it wasn't her fault Daniel had been an abusive prick. He steeled himself, taking a big breath in through his nose and letting it out through his mouth like he'd been told to do in the meditation class he had been forced to attend.

"Just out, with a couple of friends from school." He said vaguely, hoping his mother would leave it at that. But of course, the Gods were against Frank today.

"Do I know them?"

"Mother, please! I am almost eighteen years old, stop checking up on me!" Frank cried, spinning round and fixing a death glare on the woman leaning against his doorframe. She shrugged, fighting the smile that threatened to break across her face, and sauntered off in the direction of the kitchen. Frank thought he heard her telling him not to be home too late, but he knew she'd be out working so it wouldn't matter anyway.

***

Gerard's house was that confusing mixture of new and strange, and vaguely familiar. Frank didn't know whether he should be on his best behaviour of feel remarkably comfortable when he knocked on the door, holding his breath until he heard hurried footsteps on the other side. He looked up with wide eyes and bit his lip, only trying a little to be seductive, but when the door swung open all his confidence escaped him, and he was left a stammering mess on his teacher's doorstep.

"Frank. Come in." Gerard offered holding the door out for him and shooting a surreptitious glance up and down the street to check that no one had spotted them. That would be a little hard to explain.

Gerard looked stunningly good in slacks and his work shirt and tie, his hair all messy and sticking up in random places. Frank was almost jealous of the man for the beauty that seemed to come naturally to him, whilst Frank had to spend ages, painstakingly choosing the clothes he thought would make him look the best.

"H-hi." He stuttered, blushing when Gerard grinned. They stood there for a minute, sizing each other up, before Frank broke the silence with a nervous, 'so.'

"So." Gerard copied, leaning back on the wall and crossing his arms behind his back, watching Frank from under hooded eyes. Frank blushed again and cursed himself for being so easily embarrassed. "I was thinking: we watch a movie, maybe eat some junk food or something and then, like, go up to my room or something."

Frank cocked an eyebrow at Gerard's surprisingly eloquent - not - way of putting it. He didn't think the man was going to be so blunt and straightforward, but then he hadn't really known what to expect. It wasn't like he could ask someone for advise without having the both of them arrested or fired or expelled or some other unwelcome outcome

"Okay." Frank replied slowly, his forehead creasing with worry lines, and realisation seemed to dawn on Gerard. He lost some of his cocky demeanour and stood up straight, taking a step closer to Frank so that the younger boy had to crane his neck to look Gerard in the eye.

"Is this your first time?" Gerard asked, concern etched into his features, and Frank's heart sank. He knew Mr Way would be freaked out at the thought of taking Frank's virginity, and there was no way he could lie and say it wasn't. He just looked at his feet and wiggled his toes a little to distract himself from the question, so he was shocked when he felt warm fingers under his chin, lifting his head up.

"It's okay, Frank." Gerard said softly, smiling comfortingly and utterly confusing the smaller boy. "It doesn't make me think any less of you. And it also doesn't make me want to do this any less, if that's what you were worried about." He leant down and pressed his lips against Frank's, soft and quick and feather light so that Frank was hardly sure whether he had just been kissed or not, but he was relieved. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and now he could relax; he didn't have to pretend with Gerard. It was okay.

"Have you ever done this before?" Frank blurted out without thinking to clarify himself and blushed profusely when he was met with Gerard's sexy smirk.

"Had sex? Yeah, a lot of times."

"No, not that." Frank corrected himself. "Have you ever ... y'know. Taken someone's virginity."

Gerard's face softened and he shook his head, his cheeks tinged a light pink colour that Frank was have thought was a blush if it weren't for the fact that this was Mr Way, and Mr Way never blushed.

"No."

"Does it feel weird? Knowing you're about to?"

"No! Frank, I promise you, it's not weird. It makes me feel ... flattered. That you chose me for your first time."

Frank nodded slowly. "Oh. I see." The tension rolling off both of them confused Frank; before, in the classroom, they had both been more than comfortable with each other, whereas now they were actually alone and able to act how they wanted to, it was awkward.

"What was your first time like?" Frank blurted out before the situation got any more stressful. He cringed after he said it, desperately wishing the words back into his mouth and down his throat, but of course that wasn't possible. He didn't want to know about his teacher's first time, not really, but he suppose it was better than uncomfortable silence.

Gerard was caught off guard by the question and it took a moment for him to remember how to speak properly. For some reason, whenever he was around Frank he was in a permanent state of either being over confident and sexual, or nervous and tongue tied. Which certainly didn't made any sense, as Gerard was usually the former with his other romantic conquests. If he didn't know himself better than that, he would have begun to suspect he had feelings for Frank, which was ridiculous, because up until a few days ago he had just been another student to Gerard.

"Um, it was with my best friend, Bert. We were both sixteen, we were both each other's first time." Gerard choked out when he finally remembered how to speak again. He was unsure as to why they were talking about his past when they should have been screwing, but he decided to roll with it if it was what Frank wanted to do. Honestly, Gerard just wanted to make this as comfortable as possible for the smaller boy. "We were curious; it was a kind of no strings attached deal, y'know. Preparing us for when we did get a boyfriend or whatever."

Frank nodded slowly, processing this information. He could see Bert now; tall, dark and handsome. Probably smart and talented and gorgeous - Gerard's perfect match. Frank began to hate him from just thinking about him. Gerard, however, he couldn't imagine at the age of sixteen. He had always been Mr Way to Frank, his mysterious, attractive history teacher that Frank may or may not have fantasised over a few times whilst going through puberty.

"I see." Frank finally said, simply because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

They stood there in silence for approximately four seconds before Gerard decided he had had enough of the uncomfortableness and, taking three quick strides forward, backed Frank against the closest wall. Frank slammed into it sharply; his breath was knocked out of him and it took a few seconds breathing in through his nose for him to notice that Gerard's hands were on his hips and his mouth was on Frank's mouth, and his tongue was on Frank's lips, desperately trying to force its way inside. Frank gasped and moaned a little as Gerard took the opportunity to invade his mouth, running his tongue along the roof of Frank's mouth teasingly before biting Frank's bottom lip possessively.

Gerard moved his hand up from the boy's waist to his chest, his other hand latched around Frank's wrist, pinning him against the wall in a similar position to when they were in the classroom. Frank's knees buckled and Gerard pushed up against him with more force so he was supporting him and still kissing him like his life depended on it. Frank made an impulsive decision by jumping up and wrapping his legs around Gerard's waist, but Frank figured the other man didn't mind that much judging by the way he moved his hands from Frank's waist to his ass. Gerard splayed his fingers out so as to feel all of Frank at once.

"Too much talking." Gerard mumbled against Frank's lips as an explanation for his sudden movements, and Frank just nodded and let out a breathy sigh as Gerard's lips returned to his own.

Eventually, they had to pull away. Gerard motioned for Frank to follow him into the living room - when they were done catching their breath - and Frank did, keeping his head down as though he were ashamed. Gerard hoped the boy wouldn't back out now; he would most certainly have a hard time letting Frank go.

To be totally honest, the last thing Gerard wanted to do was stop kissing Frank and move into another room. Just ripping the boy's clothes off and taking him in the hallway sounded like the best idea ever; maybe he would have done it, too, if it hadn't been Frank's first time. It wouldn't be fair to the boy to make it some quickie with him pushed up against the wall. Gerard was determined to make it special.

"So how come you asked for my address?" Gerard asked curiously, just to break the silence. "You've already been here once." They sat down on Gerard's sofa - exactly where Mikey had sat a few days before - and the older man couldn't help but wince at the fact that, technically, he and his brother were manipulating Frank into sleeping with him. He consoled himself with the thought that Frank wouldn't be here if he didn't want anything to do with Gerard, and focused on the reply he was getting.

"Oh. Well, it was dark, y'know." Frank answered, and sighed dramatically when Gerard motioned for him to continue. "I was kinda drunk and, like, I was scared out of my mind. I was just running for ages and I had no idea where I was or where I was going and I was so relieved when I saw a house. I just, like, pounced on the opportunity to get away from them. I was more focused on _surviving_  than checking which road I ran down, y'know."

Gerard nodded and began to feel like an idiot. Why would he bring up Frank being attacked when they were about to have sex? That's got to be a turn off. He sneakily glanced down at Frank to see his reaction but the younger boy seemed more than happy to talk about his previous fights. Gerard found himself, once again, asking Frank if he knew who the attackers were.

"No. I told you that already, didn't I? I mean, it's not my fault everybody wants to hurt me!" Frank cried, crossing his arms indignantly, and Gerard couldn't help but smile at how adorable he looked in that position. Maybe Frank would let him take pictures of him in different poses, different positions...

And that thought was enough to utterly convince Gerard that he was a complete pervert.

"That's true. Maybe you give off a vibe or something?" He suggested cheekily, and giggled when Frank slapped his arm playfully. He leaned over and placed a quick peck on the boy's cheek; he expected Frank to tense up or at least drop the smile, but to his delight Frank just smiled wider and seemed to relax more.

"So," Frank began. "Movie and junk food?" Gerard didn't miss the hopeful undertone in the teenager's voice and it occurred to him that Frank probably hadn't had time to eat before he came out. It had been a while since he had himself been a teenager, living under his parents' roof, and he had forgotten all the silly rules and unspoken agreements that came with it, such as letting your mother know when you're staying after school or asking your father's permission before you invite someone round to your house.

"Yup. I can call for a take-away if you want? What would you like?" Gerard replied, eager to please Frank. If Frank was in an environment he was happy with, he would be more relaxed and less likely to freak out when it came time to go upstairs.

Frank surprised him by shaking his head and saying, "Actually, I could make something if you want?"

"Don't you want take-out?"

Frank shuffled self consciously, pulling his sleeves down to cover his hands. Gerard saw the gesture and reached out, grabbing Frank's hands and bringing them to his lips to calm the boy down. He seemed fairly comforted by Gerard's actions and just shrugged in reply to the older man's questions.

"I - I have stomach problems. Like, I'm a vegan, but I kind of have to be. It's ... complicated. It would be easier if I just made us something to eat."

"Jeez, if I'd known you were this complicated I would never have kissed you." Gerard said, leaning over and kissing the corner of Frank's mouth to show he was just joking. Gerard continued pressing small, feather light kisses to Frank's mouth and jaw line until he got the boy to turn his face to the side, giving Gerard better access to his lips. The older man took the opportunity as it arose and placed both of his hands on either side of Frank's face, holding him steady, as he kissed Frank more passionately.

Frank opened his mouth to allow Gerard's tongue in and pretty soon they were having a make-out session similar to the one they had in the classroom - although this time there was no desk for Frank to fantasise over. Frank let out a breathy moan into Gerard's mouth and Gerard responded by biting down on his bottom lip hungrily. Frank thought back to earlier where Gerard had been attacking his neck and collarbones with his teeth and he desperately wanted that to happen again.

He gently placed a hand on the top of Gerard's head, weaving the man's dark black hair in between his fingers, and applied pressure, pushing the man down slightly. Gerard realised what Frank wanted and obliged happily, leaning down to suck and nip at Frank's pulse point. The neck had always been a sensitive spot for Frank - when he had been going out with Jack last year and they had been doing this sort of thing, which was rare because Jack was a devoted Christian and was constantly having inner battles with himself over whether homosexuality was a sin, Jack would always go for Frank's pulse point because he knew it drove the small boy crazy.

Frank, now totally on board with the direction their 'date' was going, rolled his hips up in search of Gerard's, who then gave him a little push in the direction of the sofa. When they were both lying down - Frank's back resting on the sticky leather couch and Gerard on top of him, being supported by his elbows so as not the crush Frank - Gerard went back to kissing Frank, even going so far as to grind down onto the growing tent in the younger boy's trousers. Frank gasped and a desperate whine escaped his lips.

"You know," Gerard gasped in between kisses, "we could always forget the movie and just ... go upstairs now." The last few words were accentuated with another roll of his hips and a moan from both of them. For a second, he was sure Frank was going to give in and nod his head, but, much to Gerard's disappointment, he turned his face away.

"No." He said assuredly. "Food first. I'm hungry."

Gerard groaned - and not in the good way - and reluctantly rolled off Frank, landing on his ass on the floor with a heavy _thump_ and a grunt of pain. Frank leaned onto his side and peered over the edge of the sofa, giggled slightly.

"Serves you right for being a sexual deviant." He said with a nod of his head. Gerard proudly showed Frank his middle finger and hauled himself up from the floor, holding out his hand for Frank to take.

"Follow me then, if you're gonna make us food." They both sauntered into the kitchen, Gerard pointing out all the cupboards and drawers and explaining what type of food goes in where, and that the second draw down is only for tea towels. Frank laughed at his neatly arranged cutlery and Gerard silenced him by bending down and licking a stripe up the boy's neck, before deciding to leave Frank alone and let him get on with the cooking.

Frank was able to find a baguette and a few vegetables in Gerard's fridge and pantry, along with some mozzarella cheese, and thought, ' _hey, if we can't get pizza, I'll make the next best thing'._ Frank was an expert at pizza bread - he'd had enough practise making his mother and Daniel quick and easy meals when they were too drunk or too lazy to make it themselves - and he knew exactly what he was doing.

He cut the baguette into strips and on one half of the bread he lathered tomato purée. He followed that by cutting tomatoes and cheese into slices and laying them on the bread - he made his own without the cheese because, ew, cheese!

"Y'know cheese comes from a cow's udder, right?" Frank said judgementally, wrinkling his nose up and pretending to gag. Gerard snuck around the kitchen to wrap an arm around Frank's waist.

"You know you came from your mother and father having intercourse, right?" Gerard shot back just as judgementally, and Frank shot him a glare as if to tell him that, _that sort of talk is not appreciated, thank you very much._

"Oh! Too much sass; make it stop." Frank cried sarcastically, going as far as to cover his ears and shake his head. Gerard laughed and took the teenager's chin between his fingers, planting a wet, sloppy and probably gross kiss on the tip of his nose. Frank made a noise of utter disgust and swiped at his nose angrily with his sleeve, which only made Gerard laugh harder.

"Your attempts to stop me French kissing your nose are fruitless; give up while you still have the opportunity." Gerard dead panned and Frank raised an eyebrow, sidling up to the taller man evilly. He placed one hand on Gerard's chest and his other hand instinctively went to his outer thigh, trailing his finger's up and down provocatively.

"You're so hot when you use big words." Frank purred, smirking when he heard Gerard's breathing hitch.

"Oh believe me," Gerard replied, matching Frank's tone of voice, "I can use bigger."

"Oh I bet you can." Frank whispered, standing on his tip toes so he could lean in close to Gerard's lips, getting closer, and closer... before pulling away completely and swirling round to shove the bread underneath the grill in Gerard's oven. "But you won't be using them on me any time soon."

Frank heard the other man mutter something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'tease', but he couldn't be sure. "I'm gonna go pick us out a movie to watch." Gerard changed the subject suddenly. "Any preferences?"

The boy thought about this for a second before shaking his head and replying with, "Nope, pick what you like, but if you don't pick Star Wars I'll never talk to you again."

Gerard bit his lip to stop himself from blurting out, "Oh, we won't be talking much tonight," and was able to leave the kitchen without causing any permanent damage to Frankie's innocence. He heard the boy humming a tune as he rushed about, picking up plates and knives and forks in preparation for their meal, and he wondered just how he got so lucky as to have Frank Iero - that gorgeous, badass, punk kid that kept his head down in History class - in his kitchen, making him dinner and trusting him with his virginity.

Gerard was beaming like an idiot by the time Frank came in with two 'interesting' looking pieces of pizza bread on green plastic plates, and he just smiled wider when Frank snuggled closer to him on the sofa as Gerard clicked 'play' on the DVD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we went to St Tropez in France the other day - aka where all the millionaires live, and you can hardly buy anything for under €100 - and I felt very out of place with my baggy Guns n' Roses T-Shirt and my pink crocs. :/  
> Here is another chapter! Enjoy! <3


	17. Chapter 17

"This isn't hurting you, is it?" Gerard asked from his position hovering over Frank, concern clouding his eyes. "You'll tell me if I hurt you, won't you Frankie?"

They were lying on the bed - well, Frank was lying on the bed, his back pressed against Gerard's soft covers, and the older man was hovering over Frank, propping himself up with his hands. Frank turned his head and was half-nervous, half-excited to find he was trapped between Gerard's strong arms which were situated either side of his face.

His lack of an immediate response only served to panic Gerard, and the man sat up on his knees, his eyebrows furrowed and his hand tracing the curve of Frank's lips lightly like he was afraid to touch. Frank opened his mouth and let his tongue dart out to lick the tips of Gerard's fingers. He smiled and shook his head in answer and Gerard smiled, relieved.

"I'm fine." Frank spoke, even though the words were unnecessary. The sentence came out as more of a croak and Frank blushed at the shakiness of his own voice. It was obvious he was frightened due to the situation, and as much as he was trying to cover it up - afraid that Gerard would change his mind if he showed resistance or worry - it was startlingly clear.

Their clothes were long forgotten, discarded somewhere on Gerard's messy floor so that Frank was sure he would never find his t-shirt again in the jungle of cotton. The only thing separating them now we're their boxers - which may as well not have been there at all for all the coverage they gave - and Gerard's unwillingness to go further, claiming he "didn't want to act on my desires unless you're _totally_ ready, Frankie, baby." Couldn't Gerard see that Frank was ready? He _wanted_ to go further, and Gee coming out with all this shit about Frank being 'ready' was only giving the poor boy more time to think it through and change his mind.

Frank really didn't want to disappoint Gerard by changing his mind. It would just be cruel; working the man up until he was desperate for release and then denying him at the last moment. He _had_ to continue, whether he wanted to or not; and in all fairness, Gerard _wasn't_ hurting him.

They had kissed for a long time, Gerard sliding his tongue in and out of Frank's mouth to distract the younger boy from the possibility of impending pain - but when it happened ... well. It didn't _hurt_ , exactly. It just felt strange, different to anything Frank had ever felt before. Before, the thought of being _filled up_ with Gerard made his heart flutter and his knees weak at the prospect of all the pleasure he would feel, but now it was actually happening it was a lot different to how he expected it to be.

Frank wasn't stupid; he knew that, if you're a virgin, you're probably going to get more pain than pleasure out of your first time, but it didn't stop the disappointment from burrowing into his chest and making a home there. He wanted to be good for Gerard; he wanted to show the older man that he wasn't just a stupid high school kid with no experience - even though he really was - and that he could handle the pain, but God did it feel weird.

The pain was still there, a dull sting, but it was in the back of Frank's mind. The pleasure was still there too, but it was more of a false sense of pleasure than actual enjoyment; pleasure stemming from the expectation of _feeling_ pleasure. The thought of sleeping with Gerard still excited him, still got him feeling hot and turned on, so that even now, when he was actually doing it instead of dreaming about it, he was happy.

He felt Gerard shift slightly on top of him and then move forward, and both men groaned; Gerard because of how amazingly _good_ Frank felt, and Frank because of the intense sensation of being so full.

Frank found his hands moving to Gerard's shoulders and splayed his feelings just to feel the man's taught muscles rippling under his skin. The older man started moving, setting up a steady pace and panting; his arms shook as he used them to keep him up and the look on Frank's face - bliss mixed with something like awe - just served to push Gerard closer to the edge.

Frank's eyes fluttered closed when he felt Gerard move. The only sound in the room was their heavy breathing and the sound of skin on skin; Frank moaned breathily when Gerard thrusted harder, going deeper, and he felt that familiar tug in his stomach that told him he was close.

It was all over way too quickly; Frank came first like the virgin he was and Gerard followed soon after with a loud cry. Gerard pulled away from Frank and rolled off the younger boy, panting heavily, and stared at his boring white ceiling. There were some cracks in it that he never noticed before, but now really wasn't the time to be contemplating whether or not to repair it - he did just sleep with his student after all.

He just _slept_ with his _student_.

_Well shit._

As it sunk in, Gerard forced himself to remain calm, because freaking out would do nothing to help Frank's nerves. The very _least_ he could do to make the boy feel at ease is to hold him afterwards. He had been very lucky when he lost his virginity; he and Bert had cared for each other a lot. Sure, the feelings were only platonic and neither of them had any care to pursue their relationship, but they cared about each other far too much to just get up and leave after sleeping together.

They had huddled together in Gerard's basement bedroom at his parents' house - they had conveniently chosen a time when everyone was out someplace or another and they had the whole house to themselves - and they had lay in each other's arms. Bert had been so sweet, kissing Gerard again and again to assure him that he was okay, we're both okay. Bert always knew how to calm Gerard down from the beginnings of a panic attack, and the man managed to get panic attacks at the most annoying times...

"Gee?" Frank asked quietly, feeling more than a little afraid of what the other man's reaction would be. Would he chuck Frank out now that he'd had his way with him? Would he no longer be interested in a weird, awkward loser like Frank when he had nothing to offer him? What if he sucked? What if Gerard didn't enjoy it at all? What if -

Gerard cut him off by placing a kiss on his lips for just over a second. He chuckled against the smaller boy's lips when he saw the look of confusion and surprise - the tell-tale wide eyes and slightly parted lips that Gerard was _totally_ going to take advantage of - and sat up, gazing down at the beautiful boy in adoration.

"Sorry. You were overthinking things again. I could tell by the look on your face." Gerard replied, smiling softly so as not to scare Frank.

Frank's mouth fell open into an 'o' shape and Gerard just wanted to lean over and stick his tongue down the other boy's throat, but he held himself back to see what Frankie would say next.

"Was that ... okay?" He asked, sounding so nervous and eager to please that Gerard's heart just _melted_ inside his chest. Frank had big, wide puppy dog eyes that appeared to be looking into Gerard's soul, and the man had to give credit to the boy's parents for creating something so beautiful and amazing and kind and _perfect_.

And how he was Gerard's, and Gerard couldn't quite believe his luck because Frankie was _his_ , and he couldn't tell anyone.

Gerard was so confused. He was so happy, but at the same time his happiness was clouded with a sense of sadness. It was so cruel twist of fate; having something so precious and being unable to flaunt it and show it off.

"That was brilliant." Gerard assured, turning over onto his side and snuggling closer to Frank to share his body warmth. The covers were messy and disgusting and they both needed a shower, but there would be time for that later. Right now, they just wanted to hold one another and sleep, like they had nothing better to do in whole world.

***

Eventually, Frank had to accept reality and go home. Gerard sighed in dismay when the boy sat up and threw the covers back, and latched onto Frank's wrist in vain in an attempt to keep him in the bed. Frank just giggled, abashed, and wriggled his way out of Gerard's grip. He began to put his clothes back on, blushing when he stepped away from the protection of the bed sheet and remembered he was totally naked.

"Can't you stay?" Gerard begged, leaning up on his elbows and watching Frank get changed. "Please?"

"I _would_ ," Frank smirked at his teacher. "But some asshole set up a date on a Thursday and I have to get home on school nights." His smile faltered for a second and Gerard realised why that might be. He had to be home on school nights because he was a kid. A _child_ , and he was worried that Gerard would see him that way only. As a child and not as an equal.

"Can I at least get your number then?" Gerard bargained, relieved when Frank nodded and fished his phone out of his pocket. He handed it to the older man who keyed his mobile number into it before quickly calling and hanging up on himself so he would have Frankie's number too.

"Great. Now I can send you dirty pictures while you're in my class." Gerard smirked and raised an eyebrow when Frank's eyes widened as he realised that no, the man really wasn't kidding.

"I'll see myself to the door." Frank offered, leaning over the bed to give the man a parting kiss before hurrying down the stairs. If he didn't hurry up he wouldn't be home before nine and his mother would worry and demand to know where he'd been and who he'd been with. If he stayed out all night and she already thought he'd gone on a date she'd try to give him a sex talk or something equally embarrassing.

Frank shuddered at the thought.

As he closed his teacher's door behind him and glanced around worriedly to check that no one was there, he felt it again. Someone was watching him, and this time he was going to figure out who it was.

His eyes darted around wildly, trying to spot his stalker. At first he couldn't see anyone, and he was beginning to suspect he was just going crazy; he was imagining things, yeah. That had to be it.

But then his eyes fell on the bumper of a black BMW with blacked out windows that Frank was sure he had seen before that day at the park when he skipped school. He knew he was drunk then, and probably wasn't seeing things clearly, but God did it look familiar. It wasn't obvious at first whether there was actually anyone in the car - none of the lights were on and the boy couldn't see through the tinted glass - but it became apparent that there was in fact someone in there, watching Frank, when it started to move.

Frank had just started jogging towards it, desperate to catch whoever had been following him for the past couple of days, when the engine roared to life, startling him so much that he skidded to a stop and just stood there in shock for a couple of seconds. Those two seconds were two seconds too long, though, and before Frank knew it the BMW was racing away in the other direction. He tried to run after it but physical education wasn't one of Frank's strong spots, and pretty soon he was doubled over in the middle of the road gasping for breath with his hands on his knees, the car now a tiny black spot in the distance. He watched as it zoomed past a red light and turned a corner with total disregard for the law.

Frank ran - or speed-walked, because he was pretty tired out - the rest of the way home, constantly checking over his shoulder for signs of potential dangers. He didn't know why he was being watched or what he'd done to deserve a stalker, but it made him feel uneasy.

"Hey, honey. How was your date?" His mother asked when Frank slammed the door shut behind him, feeling much safer now that he was inside his own home: his own safe haven. He could practically _hear_ the smirk in his mom's voice and he groaned, knowing it would be easier to agree with her than it would be to lie to her and try to convince her it wasn't a date.

"It was good, mom." Frank sighed, shaking his head and cursing cursing the woman for being right about everything. She knew Frank too well.

"So when do I get to meet the lucky guy?" She asked, scurrying after Frank as soon as she saw him make a move to get upstairs. Frank groaned; he should have guessed she wouldn't let him go that easily. Now for a round of twenty questions.

"Never." Frank spat immediately, biting his tongue to stop himself from blurting out something stupid like, 'parent's evening'. That would have greatly confused Linda Iero and definitely have done more damage than good.

"Aw but Frankie, I want to meet the guy who's got my son all flustered!" She taunted and Frank went red, completely forgetting his earlier scare with the car that he vaguely recognised.

"I am not flustered!" He shouted defensively, crossing his arms across his chest when his mother just proceeded to shake her head and laugh at him. He huffed and stormed upstairs, making sure to shut his door with more force than necessary, just to annoy her.

"I'm not flustered." He said to himself, quieter this time so his mother didn't think he was going crazy or sneaking his 'mystery man' in through his bedroom window. He snickered at the thought of his mom storming into his room like a raging bull, ready to kill whoever was attempting to take 'her Frankie's' innocence. Little did she know it's already been taken.

Frank smiled at the memories, and then blushed. Gerard had been so sweet, so gentle, so loving. He had known exactly when to check if Frank was okay; he had known exactly where to touch Frank to make the pain of his first time go away and let the pleasure take its place. He couldn't have asked for a better experience. He supposed he had Mikey to thank for it all - the guy had persuaded Frank to go for it after all, and he hadn't judged that Frank was crushing on his teacher - and he decided to send the guy a text tomorrow.

Just as Frank was about to get under the covers and fall asleep, equally dreading and looking forward to the next day at school, even if he didn't have Gerard's class, his phone beeped and he leaned out of bed to check who was texting him at eleven. Most of his friends would still be awake but Frank was tired and there were so many thoughts pinging around in his head that he needed to turn it all off and just sleep.

_Sweet dreams. ;)  
G_

Gerard.

Frank fell asleep with a smile on his face and his phone clutched in his hand.


	18. Chapter 18

"I think I have a stalker." Frank announced at lunch time on Friday. He was sitting on a slightly damp bench on the football field with Ray, delicately nibbling a sandwhich and shooting sidelong glances at his best friend every now and then. He had been paranoid that Ray would somehow be able to tell what he'd done the previous night - as if he might look different as well as feeling different - and as much as Frank wanted to stop behaving like such a teenage girl, he still felt a thrill when he thought about it. It all just felt so surreal, like it was happening to somebody else rather than Frank.

Ray spluttered and choked on his drink, shaking with laughter in a way that wasn't very attractive at all. Frank considered slapping his on the back - considerably harder than necessary - but changed his mind; he wanted Ray on his side and assaulting him was probably not the best way to get it.

When he had finally stopped dying, Ray turned to look at his best friend and raised an eyebrow, taking in Frank's unimpressed expression and decided the kid was serious. Why anyone would want to stalk someone as uninteresting as Frank, Ray didn't know, but Frank never lied and he couldn't think of a single reason why he would be making it up.

"So, a stalker huh? What makes you think that?" He asked, and regretted it when Frank took a deep breath. He looked like he was readying himself for a rant, and it was not good to be stuck listening to one those. They'd be there all day if they were _lucky_.

"Okay, so I keep seeing this car, right? A black BMW; I've seen it twice now I'm sure. And on top of that I constantly feel like someone's watching me and I _know_ you could just say I'm being paranoid and stupid but both times I saw this car I felt like someone was watching me and then when I went to go see if anyone was in there - 'cause I couldn't see, right? Because of the blacked out windows, right? - the car just started driving away and I chased after it but it sped up and I lost it and I'm really freaking out and it's _everywhere_ I go and I just don't know what to do anymore. Ray, help me!"

Frank collapsed onto the bench, laying his head on his arms and taking shaky breaths in and out to calm himself down. Ray nodded slowly, then picked up his water bottle and took a swig, thinking about what to say. When Frank got as worked up about something as he was now, it was usually a valid problem which would not go away by being ignored.

"Have you told anyone?" He asked slowly, tearing a chunk out of Frank's sandwich and chewing thoughtfully - because Frank was _obviously_ a walking restaurant to Ray - before hopping off the bench. He walked over to Frank's side and picked up his friend's bag, motioning for him to follow.

"No one but you. I was going to tell my mom but then I'd have to explain how I skipped school and how I'm seeing -" Frank stopped walking abruptly and shut his mouth with an audible 'snap' as his teeth clacked together. He had almost let slip he was seeing Gerard, and while he trusted Ray to keep his secret, he didn't want to just tell him without the other man's permission. Gerard hadn't actually said anything about not telling anyone, but Frank assumed that was just in the job description when fucking your teacher.

Ray stopped walking too, his head swivelling round to glad suspiciously at Frank so fast that his afro bounced up and down hypnotically.

"We're you just about to say you were seeing someone?" He accused, jabbing a finger at Frank's chest in a way that probably wasn't meant to hurt but would definitely bruise by tomorrow. Sometimes Ray was too strong for his own good.

"Nope. No! What? Don't be ridiculous Ray!" Frank stuttered out hopelessly. "Why would I be seeing someone? There's no one to see. Nothing to see here."

Ray sighed deeply and folded his arms over his chest. "Frank, I know when you're lying. You have a tell."

Shit.

"Shit," Frank sighed, and then so he could avoid future confrontations with his best friend, he added, "what is it?"

Ray smirked. Frank was painfully gullible at times.

"You don't actually have a tell. But now I know you're lying you have to tell me who it is. Or I'll never let this go."

And yeah, sometimes Frank wished there was a guidebook on how to murder your best friend and get away with it, but for now he would just have to suck it up and accept the fact that he was busted.

"Yes, okay? I'm seeing someone; happy now?" Frank said truthfully; he was unwilling to say anymore than that and was desperately hoping Ray would just let it drop, but of course this was Ray we're talking about here, and giving up was not in his vocabulary.

"Who is it? Does he go to this school? Do I know him? What's his name? How long has this been going on? How did it start? Why didn't you tell me?!" Frank was bombarded with question after question and did his best to answer most of them truthfully. Of course, there were some he had to lie about, but he was pretty sure he got away with it.

"He does go to this school. You do know him. It hasn't been going on long. I just saw him in class and liked him, and we got talking. And I can't tell you anything else because he doesn't want people to know he's gay. Alright?" Frank replied as honestly as he could - of course missing out the bit about him being at the front of the class rather than at a desk. He didn't think that would go down as well as Ray believing he were just seeing another student.

"What?! But you know me Frank, I would never say anything! I can keep a secret. He doesn't even have to know I know!" Ray bargained, getting louder and louder as he went on until Frank was forced to clap a hand over his mouth - but pull it away again in disgust when the taller boy began licking his hand. _Ew_.

Frank knew Ray would never give up on this; when he wanted something he would never give up until he had it, no matter what the cost. Usually though, it was just about something petty like Frank supplying him with snacks throughout the day or persuading his father to buy him cigarettes without his mother finding out. It was never anything so serious - or in this case, illegal.

So the only option really was to get a fake boyfriend: either create one - but Frank didn't know how long Ray would believe that for - or say someone Ray knew was his boyfriend and get the stranger to go along with it. But who would agree to that? Who would like Frank enough to do something for him? Someone who didn't know much about the hierarchy of the school... someone who would be eager to please Frank for whatever reason... someone with no friends of him own...

"Brendon!" Frank shouted out before he could talk himself out of it. The boy was new to the school. He wouldn't have made any friends yet and this would give him an opportunity to get in with Frank's group - aforementioned group consisting of only two people - _and_ Frank could probably get him to do it without asking who the real boyfriend was. It was perfect!

"Who's Brendon?" Ray asked, wrinkling his nose up in confusion and continuing to walk towards the school.

"He's new here. He's in my history class and we just started talking and things went from there. I just don't want my mom knowing I was in his house yesterday. She thinks I was just on a date with him somewhere."

"You went to his house? What did you do there?"

Frank raised an eyebrow and smirked at Ray cockily, even though inside his chest his heart was pounding like a drum. He was so scared he was going to say something stupid to give him away and then he'd risk his best friend finding out about his maybe boyfriend.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Ray took a step back and held his hands up in front of his face as if to protect himself from the grossness that was in fact his best friend.

"No, I don't think so actually." They walked in silence for a while until Ray spoke again, this time with a hint of amusement in his voice. "So when can I meet him?"

Frank hesitated. It would be better to get this over with as soon as possible, but he needed time to talk to Brendon to see if he would go along with this idea, and then to Gerard to see if he was okay with it. That was one conversation he wasn't looking forward to.

"Monday. I'll need to talk to him and it'll be easier if we're at school when you guys meet. Less ... one on one, y'know?" Frank chuckled nervously and hoped his anxiety wasn't showing through his confident facade.

"Okay then. Monday."

***

Frank finally found Brendon after at least twenty minutes of searching. He had said goodbye to Ray - thank god the guy had a detention today or Frank didn't know what he would have done. He had no way of contacting Brendon as he didn't have his number and he had no idea where he lived; he could always have broken into the school office and looked up Brendon's file on the computer, but that seemed more 007 than Frank Iero.

He was sitting alone at a lunch table in the last quad, the one nearest the end of the school building. He wasn't eating, but he had a book open in one hand and the other was being used to rest his chin in as his eyes flitted over the words on the page.

"Brendon." Frank sighed in relief when he saw him and the boy's head shot up quickly like he was expecting to be attacked. "It's Frank. From history class, remember?"

Brendon nodded and replaced his frightened expression with a friendly smile. He shuffled over on the bench to give Frank more room to sit down and then turned to look at him straight on.

"So..." Frank started, anticipating a long and awkward conversation. "You know how you sat in my seat for history?"

Brendon nodded slowly, biting his lower lip. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that by the way."

"Totally wasn't your fault." Frank allowed. "But I've thought of a way you can make it up to me!"

"But I thought you said -"

"Hush." Frank commanded, sounding like a crabby old teacher. He shuddered at the thought. "I need a favour, and you're the only person who can help me."

Brendon tilted his head to the side like a puppy and gestured for Frank to continue. Frank figured he would get along with Ray just fine, and he would be happy to be in a group if he was terrified about his peers beating him up all the time. Ray was like a bodyguard; nobody ever approached the two of them because they knew Ray had the strength and the complete disregard for the rules to make them regret it.

"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend so my friend won't find out who my real maybe boyfriend is."

And when he said it out loud like he did just then, it did sound quite ridiculous. Frank expected Brendon to flat out refuse, or at least ask why he couldn't tell his friend who his real maybe boyfriend was, but much to Frank's relief he didn't. He just shrugged.

"Sure." He said.

***

Frank knew there was something wrong as soon as he walked in his door and was greeted by an overly cheery, "hello sweetheart! How was school?"

His mother _never_ asked how school had been. Something wasn't right, and Frank was determined to find out what it was. Naturally, though, his mother had to make things difficult for him and deny anything was the matter.

"I don't know what you're talking about Frankie!" She insisted. "I'm absolutely fine!"

"Mom." Frank was quick to jump in with Ray's logic and see if gullibility ran in the family, or if it was just him. "I know when you're lying; you have a tell."

Her face fell and Frank almost regretted bringing the subject up when she seemed to shrink in on herself. She suddenly seemed very tiny, her body frail and easily breakable, wrapped in her thin dressing ground with her tiny feet in her worn out slippers.

"Daniel came round today." She said in a whisper and Frank felt his blood freeze over. "I knew he would come round sometime; it was stupid of me to think I could just kick him out and that would be the end of it."

"What happened?" Frank questioned immediately, although he was terrified to hear the answer. If Daniel hit his mother again he would go straight to the police, he decided.

"He said he just wanted to talk to me. Said he wanted me to give him another chance - that he messed up, y'know. Apparently he's taking anger management therapy sessions and he's getting better. I don't know what to do, Frankie."

"Don't take him back." Frank said hurriedly, worried his mother would, in a moment of weakness, get back together with the monster who had almost ruined their lives. Surely she couldn't be so naive to think that he would never hurt them ever again?

"I won't, baby. I promise but..."

"But what?"

She sighed and a tear rolled down her cheek. Frank wanted to run over to her and hug her but he knew that as soon as he did that she would start sobbing and he would never hear what else had happened while he was out. It was hard though, seeing someone he loved more than anything in tears while he was fighting with himself _not_ to comfort her.

"He said he would keep coming to see me. He said he would prove that he'd changed no matter what."

Frank swallowed the growing lump in his throat. He felt sick and weak at the knees, so much so that he had to grip onto the kitchen counter behind him so as not to fall over.

"So get a restraining order or something." He croaked, his breath coming in short, uneven pants. "Get the police involved. He can't hurt us again; he can't."

He was enveloped in a warm, comforting hug before he knew what was going on and then they were both sobbing, clinging onto each other for support. Frank was still shorter than his mother - much to his annoyance - and so he was able to rest his head on her shoulder comfortably.

When they finally broke apart, Frank turned and ran, making the steps to his room two at a time. He needed to talk to someone who wouldn't ask him loads of questions or make him talk about something he didn't want to talk about. Pulling out his phone, he called Gerard.

"Hey Frankie." Came the cheerful voice at the other end. It was so calming that Frank found his worry dissipating as soon as the man spoke. "What's up?"

"Gerard." Frank choked, his voice still thick with tears that were evident when he spoke. "Hi."

There was a pause before Frank's maybe boyfriend replied, and when he did his voice was softer and lilting. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Just... talk to me. Say things; random things. I don't even know, just please talk." Frank could almost feel Gerard nodding through the phone and he imagined him sitting on his sofa watching horror movies and grading papers, a pair of sophisticated yet still sexy glasses pushed up on his nose as he sipped at a lukewarm mug of coffee. The picture he created helped soothe him, as did the man's voice when he began talking.

"So my brother came to visit me today. We see each other all the time; we were really close growing up. He's having problems with his girlfriend - he thinks she's cheating on him but he doesn't have any proof. He's kinda like you, y'know? Headstrong, won't take no for an answer, doesn't like to take advice."

"Hey!" Frank interrupted, objecting to the older man's less than favourable description of him. He found himself laughing, despite his earlier worries. They all seemed so far away now that he was talking to Gee.

"Anyway; he was talking about bugging her phone to see what she's saying to this guy he thinks she's seeing behind his back. I think he was joking - God, I _hope_  he was joking - 'cause I don't think he even knows how to bug a phone. Like, don't they only do that in detective movies and shit?"

Gerard giggled and Frank was overwhelmed with a sense of affection for the man. It didn't matter that he was breaking the law - statuary rape was a complete and utter joke, in Frank's opinion. All that mattered was that Frank wanted Gerard to comfort him and he was doing a pretty good job so far.

"Yeah. He's not a cop, is he?" Frank said, wanting to contribute to the conversation even though it wasn't exactly the best contribution.

"Nope. Not even close. He's an English student. He's in his last year; you'd like him."

"Maybe I'll meet him sometime." Frank asked, somewhat optimistically. He didn't want to assume he would be with Gerard long enough to meet his family, but he didn't want to believe that he was just another fuck to his teacher. "What's his name?"

Gerard hesitated and for a a second, Frank didn't think he was going to answer. Then, slowly, the man said, "Michael. His name's Michael."

"Huh. Michael Way. Gerard Way. Gerard and Michael Way." Frank sniffled softly, just wanting to see how it sounded on his tongue when he said it out loud.

"You finished, Frankie?" Frank could hear the smirk in his voice and he felt his earlier feelings of dread and sadness disappearing. "Or you wanna say my name some more?"

"Shut up. What are you doing right now?"

"Marking papers."

"Ooh, are you wearing sexy glasses and drinking coffee?" Frank asked excitedly, referring to his earlier daydream about the man. He probably should have specified what he was talking about, but there was no way Frank was feeding the guy's ego any more by admitting he'd been thinking about him pretty much _all day._

"What?" Gerard laughed, snorting unattractively but somehow managing to make it the most attractive thing ever. "I don't wear glasses, babe."

"What?"

"What?"

"You just called me babe."

"Oh. Yeah, I did."

"So... am I your babe now?" Frank asked tentatively. He wanted Gerard to say yes but didn't want to appear desperate.

He was met by that annoyingly hot laughter. "The fuck, Frankie?"

"Shut _up_!" Frank whined, resisting the urge to stomp his foot even though he knew Gerard wouldn't be able to see him. He'd probably know anyway; the guy had ways. "Am I your boyfriend or not?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Frank wished he could take them back. What was he thinking, coming right out with a confrontational question like that? That was bound to make Gerard feel awkward and uncomfortable and he would want to spend less time with Frank than he already was.

"I don't know. Do you want to be?" He asked, completely surprising Frank, but in a good way. A really, really good way.

"Yes." The boy responded immediately, just wanting to get it out there that yes, he did want to be Gerard's boyfriend.

"Okay then. Boyfriend."

And that brought Frank back to one of the original reason for calling. Brendon, and the prospect of him being the cover boyfriend. Frank, deciding not to waste any time with pleasantries, proceeded to tell Gee all about Brendon and Ray and the boyfriend crisis and how 'Brendon _totally_ knows we're not really dating, _babe_."

Frank expected him to object. In truth, he kind of wanted him to object, because then he would be able to think Gerard was jealous and that was a really nice thought, but to his - kind of... - relief, his boyfriend was okay with the idea. Perfectly okay with the idea of his boyfriend having another - fake - boyfriend.

"So you don't mind? Like, you don't mind that people think I'm dating someone else?" Frank queried, a little offended.

Gerard clicked his tongue and sighed melodramatically. "Just do your homework, Frankie."

"Wait, we had homework?!" Frank panicked, but Gerard had already hung up.

Some _boyfriend_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took ages to post. This chapter was really hard to write for some reason and I'm dreading going back to school and uh. Have a chapter. Enjoy! <3


	19. Chapter 19

Frank woke with a bad taste in his mouth and a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Today was the day he'd arranged to go into town with Ray and Brendon, and pretending to be someone's boyfriend was going to be difficult for Frank - Frank, who failed almost every single drama exam he'd ever _taken_. So no, this wasn't going to be fun for anyone involved... except maybe Ray, who hadn't _shut up_ about the so-called 'date' since they'd set it up the evening before. He'd constantly been teasing Frank about what he was going to wear and if he was going to hold Brendon's hand.

It was really starting to piss Frank off, but what could he do? It's not like he could come out with the truth, because then not only would he have to explain about Gerard, Ray would also be angry that his best friend had gone to such great lengths to keep something so important from him. Guilt settled itself on Frank's shoulders like some kind of bird of prey, weighing a ton and making Frank want to throw up every time he caught sight of Ray's excited, dumb smile. He'd only ever lied to Ray about one thing, and that was where he got the bruises that Daniel had inflicted upon him. Frank was on the verge of breaking and spelling everything to Ray, but when he recieved a text from Gerard that notion was out the window. Just seeing his boyfriend's name light up his phone gave him a new resolve that he would not weaken and he would not give in.

_**Gee:** Seeing as you're going on your fake date today, I thought I'd remind you who your real boyfriend is. ;)_

Frank's heart pounded in his chest and his face heated up. He bit his lip and frowned as he wondered what he could say to that; what could be an adequate response? Was Gerard simply stating once again that he was Frank's boyfriend, or was he showing some signs of possessiveness, or was he hinting at something else altogether? Frank just didn't know.

The boy was pulled out of his thoughts when Ray leaned over his shoulders in an attempt to see his phone, smirking and taunting him with, "Ooh, are you texting your _boyfriend_?"

Frank choked on his next breath and scarmbled to get away from Ray, his breath coming in short, uneven pants. He was terrified - he had almost been found out! One stupid mistake on Frank's part could have ruined _everything_! How could he have been so careless?

Frank scoffed, eager to appear less bothered by the invasion of privacy than he actually was. "Are you sure you're really seventeen? You seem more like twelve." He snapped half jokingly, to which Ray punched his arm with more force than he'd intended to and Frank toppled off his bed, where he'd previously been perched, and landed on the floor.

"Asshole," Frank muttered, grabbing his phone off the floor and hastily typing a response to Gerard. "See if I buy you coffee now."

_**Frank** : Don't worry G, I'm all yours.xx_

"So what are we doing with Brandon anyway?" Ray asked idly, scrolling through his phone and making himself comfortable on Frank's bed, stretching his legs out to fill the space his best friend had been using.

"I don't know." Frank admitted, sending a quick message to Brendon to check they were still on. "Go get coffee... walk around the mall. I don't know. Why?"

Ray sighed and got off the bed, twirling his car keys around his finger and wsiting for Frank to get up and scramble after him. "I just don't know anything about the kid. He's only been here ... what? A week? Isn't that kind of fast?"

Frank bristled; he'd only been with Gerard just over a week and, without knowing it, Ray has insulted Frank's _real_ relationship. Biting the inside of his cheek, Frank swallowed his snappy response and took a deep breath in. He just needed to keep his cool for the duration of the date and the he could come back to his room and call Gerard. But getting through the date might prove to be a lot harder than he previously thought.

"We're not about to get _married_ , Ray." Frank forced a laugh although it sounded more like he was choking on something sharp rather than actually expressing his amusement. "We just like each other, y'know?"

Ray, blissfully unaware of Frank's ability to lie, just chuckled slightly and lifted one shoulder up in a half hearted shrug. "Not really, no. I don't think I'll _ever_ understand your relationships Frank. 'Cause, y'know, you've never had any."

Frank shot Ray the dirtiest glare he could muster and made sure to slam the passenger door of his friend's car _extra_ hard. "Asshole," he repeated. "You're _definitely_ not getting any coffee later."

Just as Ray started the engine and pulled away from the curb, Frank's phone pinged with a text from Gerard. The boy hurried to unlock his phone and read it, excited at any sign of contact from his boyfriend.

_**Gee** : You free tomorrow? You could come over...?x_

Frank had to hide the goofy grin on his face as he replied, so Ray didn't get suspicious.

_**Frank** : I'll be there.x_

***

The two boys saw Brendon as soon as they entered the mall; he was leaning against the wall of the Slushie Factory with his hands thrust deep inside his hoodie pockets. He looked exactly like a the typical troublesome teenager except for the large pair of thick framed glasses covering most of his face, and the fact that he looked terrified whenever a stray shopper walked past him.

The he look of utter relief that crossed Brendon's face when he caught sight of Frank and Ray walking towards him was undeniable and kind of sad - what must have happened to the poor kid at his last school to make him so jumpy and paranoid? Frank didn't know, but he made sure his smile was extra wide as he opened his arms to hug him. It was awkward: all elbows in ribs and heads clashing. Frank was terrified he would be expected to kiss Brendon for Ray's benefit, but thankfully Brendon seemed as averse to that idea as Frank was, and turned his head away to look at Ray.

"Ah, hey." He smiled like someone who had just been caught indulging in PDA: half embarrassed and lovestruck in a stellar performance that Frank was envious of. "Ray, right? Frank's told me so much about you."

In fact, Frank _had_ told Brendon a lot about Ray: over texts in Friday evening so they could at least _pretend_ to have talked in the past. Frank probably told Brendon more about Ray than he did about himself, which might have been a mistake.

"Yeah?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise and looking at Frank, who blushed and looked away. "He didn't tell me anything about you." The comment itself would probably have been taken as insulting if Ray didn't have the biggest, dorkiest smile known to man plastered across his face, and Brendon took it and rolled with it.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I kind of didn't want him to tell anyone." He smiled sheepishly and stumbled slightly as Ray slapped him on the back - in an overly friendly gesture - hard enough to wind him. Frank stepped forward and said, "Jesus, Bren, are you okay?", not so much to look like the caring boyfriend but because he hated to see anyone in as much pain as he knew one of Ray's back-slaps could inflict. Brendon was doubled over, wheezing and coughing, and a quick glance back at Ray told both of them he was feeling mildly guilty.

"Sorry man." Ray apologised, looking genuine. "Sometimes I forget I'm ripped, y'know?"

Frank snorted and said, "As _if_!" which earned him a punch in the arm that he was pretty sure was meant to hurt, and they all laughed. Frank couldn't help but feel a pang as he thought about Gerard at home, possibly with his brother but most likely alone, and wished it was _he_ who Ray seemed to be getting along just fine with. He was glad to have Brendon, of course he was. He seemed like a real nice, friendly guy, and those were hard to come by at Frank's school, but he wasn't Frank's boyfriend and therefore this whole trip was pointless. It didn't matter that it was keeping Ray off their backs. He shouldn't _have_ to keep Ray off his back!

For one long, lonely minute, Frank wished he and Gerard could go out together, could hold hands in public, could _kiss_ in public. He wished they didn't have to hide their relationship, but then, he supposed, that's what entailed when getting into a relationship with your teacher.

"So who wants a milkshake?" Ray asked excitedly, leading them towards the nearest generic looking café - a small cosy place with a private booth away from the window. Private was good. "On Frank."

Frank gasped in mock anger and placed his hands on his hips; he couldn't begin to imagine how he looked. A short, angry, punk looking weirdo attempting to seem sassy, but whatever. Ray totally deserved to be embarrassed.

"Hey! What did I say about not buying you a drink?" Frank argued, feeling some of his earlier trepidation vanishing.

"Actually, you said you wouldn't buy me _coffee_. You never said anything about milkshakes." Ray pointed out - annoyingly correct as always - and high fived Brendon behind Frank's back. Idiot obviously thought he was being discreet, getting Brendon to side with him like he thought it would increase the chances of getting a free drink. What was _up_ with that? Brendon was supposed to be _Frank's_ fake boyfriend!

"Y'know," Frank started, scowling, "you're an -"

"Asshole." Ray finished for him, smirking wickedly. "I know, I know. Just buy me a milkshake you little shit."

***

Frank collapsed onto his bed feeling a lot better than when he climbed out of it in the morning. The day had been... productive if nothing else. It turned out Brendon was actually a really cool guy; he had an awesome taste in movies and music and he was even in a band back in his old town with some of his friends. Ray had got along with him surpsingly well, seeing as Ray didn't get along with anyone at first. Not even Frank. When he had first met Frank, he had been terrified of him and it didn't help that when they were forced to be lab partners for a science experiment Frank had 'accidently' spilled an irritant acid on his hand. It itched like crazy for ages afterwards, but they finally found common ground through their mutual hate for their crazy gym teacher, and as soon as they became friends they were inseparable.

There was one awkward moment where Ray had noticed they were barely touching each other and said, "You don't have to dial it down for my sake guys." Of course, he thought he was being a generous and caring friend when all he was _actually_ doing was forcing the two to hold hands. Frank couldn't help glancing over his shoulder in case anybody from their school chose that moment to show up with their cameras and their nasty comments. Not that Frank was afraid; everybody knew he was gay and Ray would beat the shit out of anybody who dared to give him trouble for it. No, that wasn't why he was worried that people would see them. He felt that he was somehow betraying Gerard. Sure, they man knew what was going on and he knew they were going out together, but that didn't mean he had to go hold _hands_ with the guy. That might have been taking it a step too far, and Frank was worried Gerard would somehow find out and be annoyed with him for it.

He heard footsteps and turned towards his door on instinct, not surprised when it opened a crack and his mother pushed her head in, smiling. Frank smiled back warmly; ever since the incident with Daniel coming over, Frank had been worried about her and was doing everything he could to make life easier for her.

Frank was loathe to leave her on her own; he hated the that there was a possibility Daniel might come whilst she was alone and unprotected. She was constantly in danger and the fact that Daniel had _threatened_ to come back set Frank on edge. But the truth was, Frank was terrified. He was scared of not being there when Daniel came back, but he was also scared he _would_ be there. The prospect of the person he feared and hated most in the world stopping by for a chat didn't fill him with excitement.

"You with your boyfriend, Frankie?" She teased, laughing when Frank groaned and rolled over onto his back, tugging the covers up over his head so he wouldn't be tempted to flip her off.

"Sure mom." He sighed. "Turn off the light on your way out?"

He heard her turn and the door creaked as it was shut, and then his mother must have changed her mind about leaving because she spoke again.

"Frank, I just want you to know..." She began, and Frank peeked out of his blanket. He could imagine her gnawing on her bottom lip like she always did when she was nervous. "I'm really proud of you baby. I just want you to know that."

Then the woman sent Frank one more shy, careful smile which he returned affectionately and then turned the light off as she went out. It was still light outside but Frank felt drained and all he wanted to do was fall asleep  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is just a filler chapter really. I just wanted to post something before I start school again tomorrow. Updates may be a little less regular from now on but hopefully it'll be at least once a week if not more. Enjoy! <3


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you feel like being AWESOME people and following me on twitter, I'm @fantasy_swap. :)

Sunday was definitely going to be a better day than Saturday, Frank decided, because Sunday was Gerard's day, meaning: he got to spend all day at Gerard's house on the pretence that he was going to see Brendon. The fake boyfriend was, conveniently, not asking any questions of where Frank was really going or who he was going to be with, and when Frank has voiced his gratitude at the boy's lack of questions, he had responded with a simple, "As long as you're not in any danger, I don't really give a shit." To which Frank had laughed and shoved him and told him his indifference was his best quality.

Frank really _did_ feel guilty lying to Ray, but until he figured out whether the _thing_ going on between Gerard and himself was actually something serious or not, he couldn't come clean. If Gerard chose to end things with Frank - which was the worst case scenario - and Ray was aware of it, who knew what lengths he would go to to get back at the man who had hurt his best friend? Image after image presented itself to Frank, ranging from Ray telling the head teacher about the illegal relationship to ray actually _attacking_ the man.

Obviously the latter was terrible, but Frank couldn't help but think it would be the better outcome. If Ray attacked a teacher it would be unlikely he would get expelled; suspended for a couple of days at worst, whereas if he _told_ , Frank would be expelled and Gerard would be fired and _arrested_ even.

But, Frank reasoned, now wasn't the time to dwell on the many terrible ways this could end. Ray didn't know, Frank wasn't about to tell him, everything was running smoothly and he was expected at Gerard's in twenty minutes. This, sadly, left Frank with approximately one hundred and twenty seconds to get completely ready; this was most definitely an unrealistic goal and Frank sighed as he stuffed clothes into a rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. His mother had agreed to let him stay over on the condition that he get to school on time the next day, and he assured her that it would be no problem. He had yet to tell Gerard the great news but he was hoping the older man would be as pumped as he was, and not just chuck him out when it started getting dark.

Deciding not to waste time on picking out the perfect outfit - he was hoping Gerard would just tear off whatever clothes he had on when he got there _anyway_ \- Frank left his room and headed towards the door, poking his head into the kitchen to see if his mother was up yet. She wasn't, but Frank hadn't really expected her to be anyway. She'd come home in the early hours of the morning, exhausted from working the overnight shift at work and Frank had laid in bed listening to the sounds of her feet dragging heavily across the landing and the creak of springs as she flopped onto the bed. He felt bad, really he did, but there was nothing he could do. Nobody was too keen on hiring Frank at the minute and the only other alternative was allowing Daniel - and his below-average-but-still-more-than-Frank's-mom's paycheck - to move back in with them. The possibility made Frank's skin crawl; no matter how much the man claimed to have changed, he was still, and always would be to Frank, an abusive asshole who didn't deserve to hold such a big place in his mother's heart.

He heard her crying sometimes in the morning when she'd just gotten back from work, when she thought Frank would still be asleep. The boy would have loved to say he didn't know what she was upset about, but alas... that wasn't true. His mother had loved Daniel when she'd first met him; she probably loved him as much as she'd loved Frank's father when she'd first met _him,_ and Frank knew that kind of love and adoration didn't go away, not ever, not really. There would always be a part of Linda that grieved for the loss of her relationship and as much as Mrs Iero might despise herself for that, it wasn't something she could control.

Frank swallowed and dug a pen out of his bag, looking around for a stray piece of scrap paper. He found one in an old shopping list hiding under a pile of his mother's magazines, and quickly scribbled out a note, explaining that he had left already and that he would be back around four the next day after he got out of school. Frank looked around for somewhere obvious to stick the note, but the kitchen was a total mess. Ever since Daniel moved out, Frank's house was slowly becoming more and more of a tip, and he thought he understood why. Daniel liked to make sure the house was clean: he never actually _did_ the cleaning himself but he would use different methods to get Linda to do it. These methods would range from guilt tripping her into doing it - _oh, but Linda baby, I actually go out to_ work, _I don't have_ time _to clean -_ to flat out threatening her - _Linda I swear to_ God, _if you don't clean up this_ fucking _mess...-_ and it would go on and on and on until the whole house was spotless. Frank used to think it was just Daniel being a dick, getting out of doing the housework, wanting everything to be neat and tidy, but now he could see it for what it was.

Control: it was all about control.

Frank shook his head to rid himself of the memories. Daniel was gone now and he wasn't coming back. What good would dwelling on the past do? 

He set down the note on the bottom of the stairs for when his mother finally woke up and left. 

***

Sadly, Gerard didn't rip off Frank's clothes as soon as he got through the door. He did plant a big, wet, sloppy gross kiss on the side of the boy's face though, which had Frank cringing and laughing and swiping at the older man's saliva with his sleeve. He kicked off his shoes - despite Gerard's protests of, "Frank, don't worry about the bloody carpet!" - and dumped his bag in the hall. Then he turned to his boyfriend - gah, he _still_ wasn't used to calling Gerard his boyfriend - and grinned, launching himself into Gerard's arms and sending them both toppling over to the floor. 

"Ow, fuck." Gerard complained scrunching up his nose adorably and rubbing at the back of his head. "That hurt Frank!"

"Aw, I'm sorry," Frank cooed, "you want me to kiss it better?"

"I wouldn't mind..." Gerard smirked deviously and pulled Frank back down when the boy tried to get up. Gerard would have preferred to be on top of the shorter man instead of underneath him, but as long as they were lying down together he didn't really mind.

Frank lifted up a hand and ran it through Gerard's hair softly, lightly massaging his scalp and enjoying the little pleased sighs that his boyfriend was making. Frank allowed his head to drop onto Gerard's chest and he was short enough to set his ear just above the man's heart; soothed by the rhythmic drumming, his eyes fluttered shut and his breathing evened out and he really, actually, legitimately was falling asleep on top of his history teacher.

The revelation broke the sleepy spell that had come over Frank all of a sudden and he giggled which in turn snapped Gerard out of it. The man opened his eyes, startled, but relaxed when he saw it was only Frank being strange.

"We should probably get up, huh?" Gerard suggested after neither of them made a move to get up. Frank nodded against the older man's chest and slowly picked himself up off the floor, dusting down his clothes and holding out a hand to hoist Gerard up to a vertical position.

"I missed you." Frank admitted, chewing his thumb nail self consciously. Gerard saw and approached him, gently reaching up and pulling the boy's hand away from his face. He leaned and kissed him sweetly on the side of his mouth and then on the tip of his nose, intertwining their fingers and brining their hands down to fall at their sides.

"You only saw me on Friday," the man pointed out truthfully, "but I missed you too. And now we have all weekend together, and we're gonna have _so_ much fun. I promise." The way Gerard said this made Frank blush and when he looked up at him, Gerard winked at him. _Winked! At Frank!_

"Isn't that a little presumptuous, Mr Way?" Frank questioned, placing a hand over his heart in mock outrage. Gerard laughed and bit his lip, his eyes raking over Frank's tiny body hungrily.

"A little," he conceded, "but admit it. You love it."

Before Frank could reply, Gerard was lunging forward and crashing their lips together. The sudden force made Frank stumble backwards a few steps before Gerard helped him to regain his balance in the form of placing both his hands on the boy's ass and squeezing slightly. Frank moaned into Gerard's mouth and the older man's tongue found it's way into Frank's mouth, lapping at his lips and tongue. After a few moments of indecisiveness, Frank placed his own hands on Gerard's hips and played with his t-shirt, slipping his fingers underneath the material to trace patterns into the pale skin on display. Before, he'd been too excited to take note of Gerard's appearance, but now the man was tongue deep in Frank's mouth, he could really appreciate it.

Instead of being dressed in his usual school attire - that being a smart shirt, black slacks and a tie - he was wearing casual clothes. It was like the first time Frank had arrived at the man's house, messy and beat up and unsuspecting. Gerard was wearing a baggy grey t-shirt and sweatpants. His hair was tousled and unkempt, probably from Frank running his hands through it earlier, and his cheeks were tinted with a cute pink blush. He, as usual, looked gorgeous, and Frank felt more than inadequate.

It was when Gerard tried to slide his hand down the back of Frank's jeans that the boy pulled away, flustered and breathing heavily but still smirking. He ran a finger teasingly up and down Gerard's chest and skipped the the kitchen, glancing over his shoulder to call out, "You're not getting _anything_ until you make me breakfast."

Gerard groaned because of _course_ Frank would wait until he got here to eat. Following after the boy despondently, he thought of ways he was going to get him back over the weekend.

***

It was around midday when Frank remembered the gig. They had been lying down on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn, watching a mildly entreating cooking show, both exhausted. The day so far had consisted of eating out of date cereal with soy milk - Frank squealed when he saw Gerard had bought special milk _just for him!_ \- Gerard giving Frank a blowjob - Frank came _way_ to quickly - and Frank giving Gerard a handjob - Gerard was producing moans _way_ too loud to be real - and they had both agreed that a lie down and a mind numbing TV show would be good for both of them.

Frank was quite happily snuggled against Gerard's chest, their legs tangled together and the older man's hand resting lazily on Frank's hip, when all of a sudden the boy sat straight upright with an expression resembling something close to horror settled on his face.

"Oh _shit!_ " He exclaimed, causing Gerard to panic and sit up as well, thinking something terrible had happened. 

"What is it?"

Frank didn't answer though, instead pulling his phone from his pocket as Gerard watched. His fingers flew across the screen too fast for the older man to see what he was doing, but soon enough he had the phone held to his ear and was anxiously biting the nail on his little finger as he waited for whoever he was calling to pick up.

There was a click on the other end of the line and Gerard could just make out a voice, muffled and quiet, but no words. When he chanced a look at Frank again, the boy's expression still hadn't changed and he looked just as distraught as he had a minute ago.

"Ray, the _gig!"_ He cried out, running a hand through his hair in exasperation, and Gerard's eyebrows knitted together. What gig? Had he missed something... because of Gerard? The thought made the man swallow and focus all his attention on his boyfriend for any clue as to what was happening.

As for Frank, he was just as horrified as his face made him out to be. He'd forgotten all about the show they were supposed to perform yesterday; but he had been with Ray all day, so why hadn't he said anything?

"Oh," Ray answered, sounding dismissive, "relax. I cancelled it."

" _What?!_ Why?" 

"Because you wanted to spend the day with your boyfriend. I'm not going to get in the way of your love life, Frank."

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Frank wanted to cling onto those last words and hold Ray to them. _"I'm not going to get in the way of your love life,"_ he had said, but did he mean it? Did those terms apply to Frank's history teacher as well? 

Frank groaned in response, calming down a little when Gerard started rubbing his back comfortingly. He leaned back into the touch and was rewarded with the older man's other hand coming up to stroke Frank's hair and Gerard leaned forward to plant little kisses over the exposed skin of the back of Frank's neck. Frank smiled, despite himself.

"Chill, man. They've got another slot open next weekend and I said we'd do it, so don't make plans."

"What about not wanting to get in the way of-" Frank started, bristling at Ray's contrasting words. He might have already made plans for then! What if he wanted to hang out with Gerard that day? Not that he would be able to explain that to Ray or Bob...

"Sorry dude, can't. It's my mom's birthday and I said I'd hang out with her." Frank lied, just for the sake of seeing what Ray's reaction would be.

"You're shitting me." Was the only reply Frank got and he couldn't keep in his giggles after that. He shut up pretty quickly though when Gerard growled quietly from behind him and his teeth clamped down on Frank's shoulder through his t-shirt. The boy was surprised his teacher's teeth didn't completely rip the material.

"Asshole." Ray muttered, and hung up without another word.

Frank put his phone away and turned on the sofa, swinging his legs up onto Gerard's lap and draping his arms over his shoulders so they were face to face.

"Now where were we?" He smirked in what he hoped was a seductive way.

"I _think_ the lady was just about to meet her date..." Gerard joked, confusing Frank for a moment until he realised the man was just messing with him.

"Asshole." Frank repeated Ray's words, and grinned as Gerard leaned in to meet his lips. They had the whole weekend to themselves, and neither one of them wanted to waste a single second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY IT'S BEEN LIKE TWO WEEKS. I'm so so sorry it's taken ages but please enjoy this chapter and hope the next one is up before we all DIE OF OLD AGE!! D:  
> Enjoy! <3


	21. Chapter 21

Gerard didn't know exactly what he was doing, lying in his bathtub at eight in the evening reeking of alcohol when he should have been downstairs marking papers. He didn't _remember,_ but it wasn't hard to guess. He'd come home from work - sad, because his Frankie had to go straight home - and got hammered straight away. He'd somehow ended up in the bathroom, in the bath _tub_ \- probably having gone in there to throw up and tripped over his own feet - having forgotten all about the papers lying abandoned on his kitchen table _and_ the fact that his annoying little brother was supposed to be visiting him tonight.

It also wasn't hard to guess whose fist was angrily thumping at his bathroom door and making his skull feel like it was being squashed underneath a fucking _house_. Somehow, _somehow,_ he'd managed to lock the door in his drunken stupor and was therefore protected from Mikey's judgemental glare.

"Hold on!" Gerard yelled grouchily, and sighing in relief when the rhythmic banging sound ceased altogether. It didn't stop the painful thumping inside his head, but Gerard thought that had more to do with him downing a six pack of beer, half a bottle of wine _and_ a glass of rum and Coke in the space of three hours than his brother's insistency to enter the room. It was a wonder he hadn't developed liver problems by now - or maybe he had and he just didn't know. Maybe that was why he felt so bad all the time.

Well, almost all the time. Whenever he was with Frank he felt marginally better. It had been the same with his last boyfriend, and the girlfriend before that, and before _her_ it was Bert. Whenever Gerard developed feelings for a person - whether those feelings were love, lust or infatuation - he liked to cling onto them and never let go. If a person distracted him from his otherwise empty life then the man _never_ wanted to let them go. That was Gerard's problem.

Somehow, somehow, _somehow,_ Gerard pulled himself to his feet and gripped onto the edge of the bath for dear life. The room swayed dangerously and the effects of the alcohol had obviously not worn off yet - he could hear Mikey yelling but his words were unintelligible: slow and slurred and amusing to listen to. Gerard giggled through the throbbing pain in his temples and lurched towards the door, just barely able to unlock it and swing it open without smashing himself in the face with it before he collapsed to the floor. Thankfully Mikey was there to catch him, and instead of hitting the cold tiles of his bathroom like he was expecting to, they both fell back onto the landing and Gerard's fall was cushioned by his baby brother.

"Ow! Motherfucker, get off!" Mikey screeched, wriggling around in the hopes of kicking Gerard's limp body off his own. "Get _off_ me! Off!" 

Gerard groaned and struggled to pull himself into a sitting position, despite all his senses telling him to remain where he was; Mikey was comfortable, Mikey was warm, Mikey loved him. Those traits were hard to find and even harder to keep.

When Mikey was free to shuffle out from underneath his brother, he sighed deeply and rested his head in his hands, his legs crossed as Gerard slouched against the nearest wall which happened to be opposite Mikey. They sat in silence for a while, Mikey thinking too concentratedly to speak and Gerard too smashed to form a sentence, before the older of the two giggled quietly, breaking the spell of silence.

"Gerard," Mikey said lowly, not bothering to ask why he was laughing or what he could possibly find so _damn_ funny right now, but his brother was known to be a happy drunk and happy was much, _much_ better than depressed. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Gerard just frowned at him, shook his head and started giggling again. He looked as if he was trying to keep his laughs under control but that just made it more noticeable when his shoulders started shaking.

"I thought you were over this, Gee." Mikey said sadly and something in his tone must have registered with Gerard, because he stopped laughing almost immediately.

"Mikey? Why are you sad?" He asked plaintively, rather like a small child that didn't understand why their parent was upset but wanting to cheer them up all the same. Gerard knew there wasn't much he could do to make Mikey happier right now, especially if he had been the one to upset him in the first place, but he couldn't stand to see his baby brother miserable.

 _God, what had he been thinking?_ Why had he gotten _drunk_ on a _school night?_ Why did he persist in doing this when he _knew_ it just hurt the people he cared about, not to mention _himself!_ Imagine if Frank found out! The boy would realise he shouldn't be seeing someone like Gerard! Frank would see how pathetic and weak he was; would see how easily he gave into temptation, and realise that he deserved so much better than a dumb, alcoholic, _screw up._ God, he was such a _fucking_ screw up!

But in the other hand... his life was _hard_ right now. He was battling his morals and his feelings, his emotions and what he knew to be right and wrong. He'd just wanted a drink! He'd just got carried away!- his little brother knew how hard it was to stop when you get started so he should understand! Gerard deserved a little understanding, at least.

"Gerard?" Mikey asked again, and continued when he only received a hum in response. "I don't like the plan."

It took a while for Gerard to remember what the hell Mikey was talking about, and when he did he groaned. Why did he have to bring that up now? If there was one time Gerard could have done with  _not_ feeling guilty, it was now. 

"The plan is the plan." He said, his earlier good mood dissipating - although God only knew how he'd managed to feel happy after he'd fallen into his _fucking bathtub! "_ We can't change it now."

"We could." He argued weakly, sounding like he didn't even believe himself.

"No."

"We could!"

 _"No!"_  Gerard yelled, anger clouding his already irrational mind. " _No!_ We've been through this. It works _fine!_ The plan is _fine_ and we can't change it now! Do you understand?!"

"Gerard -"

"Do. You. Understand?" The man enunciated each word with a precise coldness that Mikey hadn't seen since Bert left. It scared him. It fucking _terrified_ him.

It was quiet for a long time before Mikey worked up the courage to speak. He was regretting coming over at all, but he knew if he hadn't Gerard would probably have slipped in the bath and cracked his head open on the hard, unforgiving bathroom floor. He'd probably have died by now...

"You're going to hurt him." Mikey whispered sadly. 

"It was never my intention to hurt him." Gerard said bitterly in that all-too-familiar _'Gerard'_  way that he always used when they were kids. It was his way of apologising without ever actually apologising. He would trick whoever he was speaking with into _thinking_ he'd apologised, but then they would realise too late that he never had. It was smart, and sneaky and a totally Gerard thing to do, and Mikey hated him for it.

"Well you're going to hurt him anyway." Mikey snapped, irritatedly. "Whether it's your intention or not, you're going to hurt him. He's just a _kid,_ Gerard. Why couldn't you have picked someone a little older, a little more _stable,_ to fuck with, huh?"

 _That_ got to him, of all things. At _that_ , he started to look guilty, biting the inside of his cheek and casting his eyes down to the ground. Mikey wondered how long he would have to stay before the alcohol wore off and his brother would no longer be a danger to himself.

"I'm not- Mikey, I'm not just doing this to... to fuck with him. I'm not _trying_ to hurt him. I'm not doing this just to fulfil some sick, perverted _desires_ with a little kid if that's what you mean. I _like_ Frank. I've liked him for a long time, a-and I _know_ that makes me sound disgusting but that _proves_ I'm not trying to hurt him!"

Mikey chose to stay silent, knowing that not answering would be worse to Gerard than hearing something he didn't want to hear. He was right, and the man started sounding desperate.

"Mikey, you know I'm not a bad person, right?! You know I wouldn't deliberately hurt someone like - like that, right?!"

It was too much for Mikey to bear; he couldn't just sit there and listen to his brother tear himself apart with guilt and desperation for affection. He had to step in and assure Gerard that no, he wasn't a bad person and yes, Mikey knew he'd never deliberately hurt someone _like that_. He had to comfort him, even if that meant lying to him.

" _Yes_ Gerard! I know that, okay? You're not a bad person. Besides, if... if the plan goes well, Frank won't even get hurt. Right? That's how it's supposed to go, right?" 

Gerard nodded quickly, eager to agree that he was not, in fact, a terrible person for seducing and fucking and _hurting_ one of his students.

"Good." Mikey sighed, crawling over to his brother and wrapping a hand around his shoulders. They stayed like that until Mikey really had to go home. At first he was worried about his brother, panicking about what might happen if he left him on his own when he was still drunk, but when he heard a _ping_ from Gerard's phone - and knew _immidiately_ that it was Frank - he felt calmed. Fuck the plan, he thought. He _knew_ Gerard liked Frank more than he was letting on, and that was most definitely a good thing, for everyone involved.

Except maybe Daniel.

***

_**Frank:** Hey you there?_

_**Gerard:** yeah heyyyy Babe!!!! _

_**Frank:** hey..._

_**Gerard:** hi there_

_**Frank:** Are you okay?_

_**Gerard:** im fabulousss my dead_

_**Gerard:** *dear_

_**Gerard:** fuck im so fckin drink_

_**Gerard:** DRUNK damn_

_**Frank:** Really? On a Monday?_

_**Gerard:** hey!! monday is as goood a day as any!!_

_**Frank:** How much did you even drink? Are you okay?_

_**Gerard:** yeah baby I'm finnee._

_**Frank:** If you can't spell 'fine' then you're not fine._

_**Gerard:** Frankie!!! :(_

_**Gerard:** dont be meen!_

_**Gerard:** *mean. See I can spell!_

_**Gerard:** r u proud of me??_

_**Frank:** Yes, very proud. -_-_

_**Gerard:** baby!!' You shud take your clothes off!!_

_**Gerard:** you shud send me pics!!_

_**Frank:** No. You should go to bed and get some sleep._

_**Gerard:** why nottt?? I won't show anyone!!_

_**Frank:** Honey, you're amazing and I like you a lot, but I'm not sending you naked pictures when you're drunk._

_**Gerard:** but..but..I won't show anyone!! I'd be the only one to use them!!_

_**Frank:**..._

_**Frank:** Okay I'm going now. Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow.xx_

_**Gerard:** frankieee!! Don't leave meeee! :'(_

_**Gerard:** goodnight baby x_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the end got a little confusing - that was just me doing some texty things... anyways.  
> Please go check out my new fic Runaways!! You might like it... *wink wink*  
> Enjoy! <3


	22. Chapter 22

Tuesday came with a throbbing headache and a sense of mortification on Gerard's part, although he wasn't sure why. He had a vague recollection of embarrassing himself while he was totally wasted last night but the memories slipped through his fingers like sand, like a dream that he couldn't quite bring to the front of his mind.  
  
He hoped he hadn't done something truly embarrassing; he could remember Mikey leaving and then... nothing else. He guessed he should call Mikey, but he knew what he'd hear if he did. Mikey would bitch and moan at him for drinking "irresponsibly" on a work night whilst Gerard apologised and grovelled until they mutually agreed the conversation had gone on long enough and one of them decided to hang up first.

No, Gerard didn't fancy going through that ordeal over one little slip up - one little slip up that Gerard didn't even _remember!_

Although he remembered Mikey saying he didn't like the plan...

To tell the truth, Gerard didn't like the plan either - the plan to seduce Frank, that is, and then get Frank to forget about him without a fuss. Gerard didn't _want_ a relationship. He wanted _sex,_ he wanted a short term partner he could kiss and fuck and watch movies with and text when he got bored or lonely. He didn't want a commitment with someone; didn't want to have responsibilities; didn't want a boyfriend. 

So then why had he agreed to be Frank's boyfriend? Why had he told the boy they were dating? Why did he imagine himself doing all the relationship shit with _Frank?_ He didn't _want_ a relationship! He just wanted Frank!

He hadn't even known he'd wanted Frank till the boy showed up on his doorstep, bloody and disheveled and desperately in need of comfort and care. He didn't know what made him want to take care of Frank... but he did. He wanted him to be needy and dependant on Gerard; he wanted Frank to care about him and to want _only him_ , which was ridiculous because that _wasn't in the plan._

This plan that _nobody_ seemed to fucking like. 

The plan all along had been to seduce Frank - make him fall in lust with his teacher - fuck him, kiss him, compliment him, continue seeing him until Gerard grew bored of him and then ditch him. It sounded harsh and Gerard cringed every time he thought of it - thought of the way Frank's face would crumple, his eyes would fill with tears - and he felt _awful_ even _considering_ hurting Frankie. But he would have softened the blow.

There was another guy - Danny, Daniel? Gerard couldn't remember what his name was but it was hardly important - that Mikey had met at a party once. Someone he knew from college had a brother who was despairingly single, youngish, fairly attractive and had similar interests to Frank. He seemed like the perfect match: Gerard would tell Frank he thought they should split after a few weeks and Mr. Perfect Match would swoop in, capture Frank's heart and save the day. Frank and whoever the guy actually _was_ would have a nice boyfriend, Gerard would have gotten laid and would have quenched his newfound obsession with Frank Iero and Mikey really had no reason to feel bad. It wasn't like Gerard was _raping_ the boy, nor was he sleeping him without any feelings for him.

Gerard _did_ care for Frank - you couldn't know someone as sweet and pretty as Frank for three years and _not_ care about him - but that was the problem. Gerard cared for Frank _too much_. Every time he so much as thought about giving Frank away, his heart would clench and his throats would dry up and he felt like vomiting. He knew he couldn't _keep_ Frank; Mikey had already promised to introduce Mr. Perfect Match to the "cute kid" Gerard was currently courting and it would be unfair to pull out now... Mikey had _promised._

Gerard was just clutching at straws now, trying to persuade himself that "no, he really couldn't keep Frank". 

Oh, but he wanted to. He really, really wanted to.

***

Mikey texted him at lunchtime on Tuesday; he was on the field with Ray, who had thankfully been there to give him a lift into school today, and was slowly eating an apple when his phone pinged. Ray raised an eyebrow; he was obviously surprised - Frank tried not to be offended - because the only people who ever texted Frank were Ray and Frank's mother. He didn't know about Gerard, and Frank wanted to keep it that way.

"What's Momma Iero got to say?" Ray asked curiously, going back to watching a group of tenth grade girls play netball on the court but taking his headphone out to show Frank he was listening.

Frank's heart leapt, thinking it might be Gerard on his lunch break texting him, but sank a little when he saw an unfamiliar number. Trying not to let the disappointment show on his face, he muttered, "She's decided she hates you after all and she never wants you to set foot in her house again." 

Ray snorted. "No offence Frankie, but Linda's more likely to say that to you than she is to me."

Frank scowled at him because he knew, regtrettably, it was true.

"Anyway, that sounds like something your asshole stepdad would say more than your Mom. Sure he hasn't stolen her phone?"

Frank flushed and scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. He still hadn't told Ray that Daniel had moved out - he'd never told him about the attacks or the pain the awful man had inflicted on his mother or himself - and it would be hard to explain why he hadn't told him about it when it had first happened.

"Oh, Daniel kind of... doesn't live with us anymore."

Ray's head snapped up to meet Frank's gaze, eyes wide and excited.

"You're kidding." 

"No. He moved out."

"When?!" Ray questioned, sounding _far_ too excited that Frank's stepfather no longer lived with him.

"Not too long ago." Frank answered, choosing to be as vague as possible.

"Huh," Ray mumbled, getting distracted by the girls on the netball court again. "Lucky you, Frankie."

Frank rolled his eyes at his friend's lack of attention span and took the opportunity to check who the message was from.

_Hey, you want to meet up tomorrow? I could buy the good beer instead of that shit you were buying last time??_

_~ Mikey_

Frank grinned. He'd forgotten about the sort-of-friend he'd made, what with the excitement of having a boyfriend and having his asshole stepfather move out, and it would be nice to get to know him a little better without a lot of stress on his mind.

_Sure, sounds good man. 8 o' clock in the park?_

Frank texted back, hoping he didn't look eager or desperate. He'd gone all his life with only one friend and he didn't really know how to act when someone else was trying to been friendly and meet up with him. Ray was good, because he was predictable and Frank didn't feel the need to impress him. Other people though? They were scary.

"So where's your boyfriend today Frankie?" Ray smirked.

"Oh, he's probably in his classroom." Frank muttered dismissively before freezing, realising Ray had meant Brendon as opped to Gerard - _Mr Way. "_ I think he said something about having a detention." The younger boy quickly backtracked, sighing in relief when ray shrugged, accepting the lie.

Yes, he felt bad about lying to his best friend, but he was sure he'd feel worse if Gerard got arrested.

***

The day dragged on torturously slowly since Frank didn't have a lesson with Gerard, but _finally_ it was the end of the day and Frank was able to sneak off to Gerard's classroom to meet up with him. It had been decided that they couldn't do anything _sexual_ whilst in school - it was too risky, Gerard said - but they could still enjoy each other's company.

Frank didn't like that rule, and while it was completely out of character for him, he was determined to break it. After all it was the end of the day, everyone would be leaving or already gone and even if someone was there they could lock the door! There were no windows, no way of seeing anything that could happen inside... and Frank _really_ wanted something to happen inside.

Frank knocked at his teacher's door but when he received no reply he pushed the door open slightly, peeking inside. The room was empty but Gerard's bag was still propped up against his desk, showing he was still on school premises. He had probably just left the room to print off some worksheets, and Frank was going to have a surprise ready for him when he got back...

The boy walked towards his teacher's desk slowly, debating whether or not he should actually try and get his teacher to fuck him in school. Sure, it wasn't the most ceremonious way to _do it_ but if they'd already _done it_ , surely it didn't matter, right? There was only one first time, and that was supposed to be the special one. All the rest were just... fucks. Right?

Frank shrugged and proceeded to push some of the papers and files that were cluttering the surface and crawled on top of the desk, crossing his legs and tugging his hoodie over his head although to show more skin he'd have to take off his long sleeved t-shirt too. He was still slightly cautious about whether someone else - other than Gerard - would walk in and spot him. He'd easily be able to chalk his position up to being a rebellious student wanting to disrespect his teacher, but it would be harder to explain it if he was _half naked_ on top of his teacher's desk. Grinning at the thought, Frank swallowed hard and shifted himself so he was more comfortable; there was a stapler sticking into his ass and he'd knocked over a pile of seventh grade essays when he'd mounted the desk. He knew Gerard wouldn't bee best pleased to come back to his room and see the desk and floor in disarray - and if Gerard wasn't pleased there would be little chance of breaking his strictest rule.

Frank leaned over and tried to scrape up the few sheets of paper that had fluttered to the floor, but they kept escaping his grasp and he coukdnt get them off the floor. This was what he was doing when he heard a loud cough - the sort of clearing the throat, 'excuse-me-I'm-here' cough - and it made Frank jerk upwards so suddenly that he knocked himself off balance and ended up falling to the floor.

He glared up at Gerard, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression. Frank would probably be laughing too if his boyfriend hadn't ruined his chances off looking seductive when the man first walked in and saw him: Frank was sure lying sprawled out on the floor with an expression of pain on his face wasn't a sexy image... and if Gerard found it sexy then that was slightly weird.

"May I ask you what you think you're doing?" The man asked, wandering over towards Frank at a leisurely pace. He certainly wasn't in any hurry to help Frank up from the floor, that was for sure.

"I was just going to say 'hi'," Frank stated, glowering at Gerard as he loomed above him. 

"And you couldn't have said it standing up? - Or sitting down on a chair as oppose to my desk, and then the floor?"

"I saw something interesting on the floor." Frank argued, folding his arm s over his chest childishly and pouting at the older man. He was sure sticking his tongue out would just make him look like a spoilt brat so he kept it inside his mouth. 

"And you decided to... check it out?" Gerard was _definitely_ hiding a smirk now, and Frank was fuming.

"Are you going to help me up or not asshole?"

"Hmm," Gerard cocked his head to the side and pretended to think it over before sticking out his hand to pull Frank up; the younger boy had other ideas, though. He was still eager to break Gerard's first rule, and just because things didn't go exactly according to plan didn't mean they couldn't happen at all.

Frank grabbed Gerard's hand firmly and yanked on it, successfully causing Gerard to lose his balance and to topple onto the floor, just able to stop himself from slamming into Frank by sticking out his hands so they hit the ground first. Frank grinned at their position: Frank lying on the floor staring up at his teacher, who was hovering above him with his hands on either side of the younger boy's head. Neither of them made a move to get up so Frank slowly wound his arms around Gerard's neck.

"You were saying?" Frank asked innocently, tightening his grip around the man's body and forcing him to push closer to Frank if he wanted to avoid being hugged to death. That had got to be the best way to die, Frank thought, but Gerard dying now would really ruin what he had in mind so he let up a bit.

"Frank... you - you have to let me go. I'm, seriously - Frank we have to get up. We'll get caught - _Frank!"_ Gerard argued, trying to pull away but gasping when Frank wrapped his legs around Gerard's body, causing their hips to touch. Frank wasn't surprised to find Gerard was hardening - Frank himself had grown hard pretty quickly once Gerard was on top of him, memories of his first time in the back of his mind. He didn't want to _fuck,_ he decided, he didn't want to experience that pain again in school where they had nothing to help the process. Frank was down for handjobs though, and judging by the way Gerard was twitching his hips gently against Frank's like he thought the boy wouldn't _notice_ , so was his boyfriend.

"Why?" The younger boy asked, his eyebrows furrowing in mock confusion as he worked a hand between their hips and pressed gently against Gerard's crotch. He smiled at the quiet moan the man made as Frank palmed him gently. "Couldn't we just... stay here a while?"

"Frank... no. It's too - _fuck_ \- too risky Frankie!" Gerard panted and pressed himself even harder into Frank's hand. Frank smirked as Gerard began to grind against him, and he quickly undid the man's button and zipper without any signs of complaint from him. Gerard tried to pull away once Frank's hand was wrapped around his erection, but could only shudder and gasp as the boy pumped him quickly, swiping his thumb over the tip on every other stroke. Frank was tempted to tease his lover by going slow, but he agreed with Gerard when he said it was risky. The quicker they _finished_ the quicker they could get out of there and get somewhere private.

Frank just wanted to do _something_ here so every time he had to sit in this classroom he could think back on the occasion and smile. And probably blush as well.

"Fuck, oh my God." Gerard muttered under his breath before his whole body went rigid and he came against Frank's hand with a long, drawn out moan. "God Frank."

Frank smiled shyly; now he'd succeeded in what he wanted to do, he was back to being the shy, modest schoolboy rather than the flirty, outgoing slut that had given his teacher a handjob in their classroom. Gerard seemed to like the shy person more, despite the drying sperm covering Frank's hands.

"God Frank," Gerard repeated, kissing the boy for the first time that day. "Let's go home, to my house I mean. Yeah? Let's get out of here Baby." 

Frank beamed giddily and nodded, eager to get to Gee's house even though he hadn't told his mother he'd be staying out late. She's probably be asleep anyway, Frank reasoned. Yeah, she'd probably be asleep anyway...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to have a chapter full of smut but then I watched a super disturbing film and got super disturbed and couldn't concentrate so sorry if it seemed a little weird at the end. And also sorry for that totally random author's note.  
> Enjoy! <3


	23. Chapter 23

"So when do you next see your fake boyfriend?" Gerard asked, leaning back against Frank's bedroom wall and sighing contentedly. Frank's Mother had been called in to cover an afternoon shift at the 7/11 store she worked in, leaving the house free for Gerard and Frank's use. Gerard had never been to Frank's house before— it had always been Gerard's house that was the go-to house, and Frank felt mildly guilty about that. It was only fair, he decided, that Gerard get to see where he lived, and what better time than when his Mother was away.

"Um… Saturday I think? He's coming to see Ray and I play; we have a gig. Did I tell you that? No— I don't think I did. Well, we have a gig. On Saturday. And Brendon is coming to see us play. Because, y'know, he's my fake boyfriend." Frank said, losing control of his brain-to-mouth filter and dropping painfully obvious hints about what he wanted Gerard to be doing on Saturday night. Gerard, infuriatingly, either wasn't getting the hints or didn't want to go to Frank's show tomorrow.

"Oh," Gerard said, chewing his lip. "Well. That sounds cool. Like, yeah. That'll be fun."

Frank frowned; he knew he shouldn't expect anything from Gerard. The guy was an _adult -_ he had a nine-to-four-thirty job - and Frank definitely shouldn't expect him to do _anything._  He was lucky to even be able to hang out with the man, let alone be his boyfriend, and asking him to go to Frank's boring, punk rock shows would be sure to scare the guy off. Only…

Only Frank _wanted_ Gerard to come see him play. Frank wanted Gerard to be there and tell him he was great at guitar even if he was terrible and tell him he looked hot on stage even if he looked sweaty and red-faced and gross. He wanted Gerard to do all the things boyfriends were supposed to do— Brendon wasn't Frank's boyfriend and _he_ still managed to show up at one of his shows! And Gerard had said he didn't have any plans tonight…

"You should come." Frank blurted out before he could stop himself. All he could think about was he and Gerard not being able to go out in public, having to hide their relationship. It was making him sick. "It would be like a date, y'know? You can't get in trouble for going to a bar, and it's only polite to talk to someone you know, right?"

Gerard sighed loudly, showing his displeasure at the idea. Frank's spirits sank further; he knew he shouldn't have asked.

"Frankie, we don't need to go on dates to be in a relationship. You know that, right?"

Franks bristled. "Of course I know that."

"Good! That's good, because I know a lot of kids these days think you have to go on dates to prove "affection" or some shit like that and I know it's dumb— I'm just glad you know that's dumb." Gerard turned to face Frank as he finished and smiled happily, as though he truly thought what he said didn't affect Frank in the slightest.

Frank couldn't seem to move on from the words, "a lot of kids" and, "dumb". Gerard thought he was a _kid_ and that something Frank wanted to do was _dumb_. If the teenager wasn't so outraged and fucking _angry,_ he might even allow himself to be upset for a minute.

"So you think dates are dumb now?" Frank accused, shifting away from Gerard just slightly. It was childish and immature and really not helping him prove Gerard wrong about him being a "kid", but there wasn't much else he could do save getting up and walking away, and he didn't want to do that just yet. He wanted to see what his boyfriend - his _real boyfriend_ \- would say next.

"What?" Gerard's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Frank cursed himself for finding that unbearably adorable.

"You think my shows are dumb? You don't wanna come because you think they're dumb and— and that I'm just some dumb kid? Is that what you think?"

"Frankie no, that's not—" 

"Don't call me Frankie when I'm mad at you!" Frank growled, finally standing up and walking to his bedside table and switching on his phone. Gerard stood up and followed him, attempting to wrap his arms around Frank's middle in a backwards hug. Frank wrestled out of the embrace and went to stand by the door, opening in moodily.

"You should probably go. You probably have places to be that aren't _dumb_ or _childish,_ right? I wouldn't want to keep you."

Frank was staring at the wall opposite, refusing to let himself look at Gerard. He had convinced himself Gerard would never make him feel inferior - like a child or like he was less mature or intelligent due to his age - and yet here he was calling Frank's desire to go on dates with his boyfriend _dumb and childish._

Frank felt tears well up behind his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat, refusing to let himself cry in front of Gerard. It was bad enough that the man thought he shouldn't be childish— it would be worse if he thought he _was._

"Frank, please just hear me out. I didn't mean mean it like that!" Gerard argued, but to Frank he didn't sound sincere or apologetic at all. He sounded irritated, as if he were annoyed that Frank was really upset about this. It was as though he thought Frank were making a big deal out of this when he should have just accepted it and been fine with having to be what Gerard wanted him to be.

Hell, maybe Frank _was_ blowing this out of proportion - after all, he knew Gerard wouldn't _really_ want to hurt him - but he was still hurt and upset and all he wanted to do was let out his frustrations on stage. The gig was at eight or nine - he couldn't remember exactly what Ray had said - but it didn't matter. He could easily practise in Ray's garage and if Bob was available they could practise beforehand.

"You ought to leave anyway," Frank said in a clipped, cold voice. "I said I'd practise with Ray before we played."

Gerard sighed, but didn't object. That was all Frank could focus on: _he didn't object._

"Okay," the man replied. "I'll see you later, though. Be good." He strode confidently over to where Frank was standing, took his face in his hands and planted a firm kiss on the boy's mouth, leaving Frank dizzy and disorientated, but also disappointed with himself. He was supposed to be angry with his boyfriend, yet he couldn't stop from swooning when the guy so much as kissed him. He was pathetic, really.

As soon as Frank heard the front door shut, signifying Gerard leaving, Frank lunged for his phone and typed out a message to Brendon.

_**To Brendon:** You're still coming tonight, right?? Bring your fake ID, we're gonna get fucked up._

_***_

The show was not their best, but it was also not their worst. The club was small, but the size didn't impact how many people managed to cram onto the dance floor. They were mostly kids; teenagers and adults in their early twenties, all screaming and laughing and trying to sing along even though they didn't have a clue what the lyrics were. The atmosphere was intense and Frank was giving it his all, pouring his heart and soul out through his guitar and microphone.

He could see Brendon at the back of the club, nursing a beer - the first one he'd got since he came in, and it was only half drunk - looking distinctly awkward and uncomfortable. He obviously didn't want to be there, but he was Frank's fake boyfriend, and consequently he was there for Frank. Because Frank wanted him to be. 

 _He would be a great boyfriend,_ Frank thought drunkenly as Ray rounded off their last song for the night with a killer guitar solo. So _maybe_ he'd had a few pre-show drinks, and _maybe_ he was a tiny bit wasted, but the haze around the edges of his vision have him the extra burst of confidence he needed to get up on stage and perform.

He helped Ray and Bob pack up the equipment and allowed himself to be led off stage by the club manager who swiftly introduced the next group playing. He agreed with them halfheartedly when they enthused about how eat the crowd had been and how if they kept getting shows like this, it would help them get noticed by a record label for sure, but his mind was on Gerard. Gerard, who didn't want to come to his show or go on dates with him because he thought they were childish and dumb.

 _Fuck him,_ Frank thought angrily, _you have a wonderful fake boyfriend waiting for you and some awesome friends and you need to get shit faced pretty soon or you're going to end up being the designated driver. Even though you can't even drive!_

Okay, so maybe Frank was a little more drunk than he first thought.

He pushed past Bob, who grumbled at him loudly, to get to the main floor of the club and to Brendon who was dangerously close to a leering, middle-aged man with a balding head and a grossly obvious hard on. Frank stepped in between them quickly, and grabbed Brendon's hand enthusiastically, leading him away like the good, protective fake boyfriend he was supposed to be.

"What did you think?" Frank grinned, not letting go of Brendon's hand. Frank's phone chimed, but he paid no attention to it. It was probably Gerard begging for forgiveness or something like that. Frank wasn't going to forgive him though… well, maybe if he sent enough pleading messages…

"You were great! Seriously, you guys have got something good there; it's only a matter of time before you get signed."

"Aww, you're too nice Brendon!" Frank slurred, giggling at the end of his sentence. "I need more beer."

Frank stepped away from Brendon and closer to the bar, hoping that by having already performed, he wouldn't need his (fake) ID, because he was pretty sure he'd fumble and drop it and then have to go through the whole troubling process of getting a new one.

"I'll be back," Frank promised, not waiting for a reply before shoving his way through the crowd to get to the bar. He ordered a beer and pulled out his phone, seeing he had two texts, and clicked on them, just to see who they were from. Hoping it was Gerard. It wasn't though. Neither of them were.

_**From Mikey:** Hey dude, are you running late or something? I'm at the park._

_**From Mikey:** Are you still coming? I'm gonna go home soon._

Mikey? Who was Mikey? Why was he supposed to be meeting him? Why couldn't he remember anything?!

Cursing his drunk brain, Frank allowed himself to be disappointed. His boyfriend hadn't texted him, hadn't even tried to apologise after he'd left Frank's house, and here was Frank in an awesome club with all his friends with him, getting upset over some guy.

 _Fuck him,_ Frank thought again, shaking his head and bouncing back over to where Brendon was standing, now with Ray and Bob close by. Before he could think about what he was doing, Frank had grabbed Brendon's arm and yanked the boy towards him, smashing their lips together. It was brief and unexciting - unlike when he kissed Gerard - and Brendon pulled away pretty quickly, looking surprised and slightly afraid.

"Frank," he stammered, leaning closer to him so Ray and Bob couldn't hear what they were saying. "I'd prefer it if you didn't kiss me. Okay? I don't know exactly what the rules are of our… _relationship,_ but— hugs and holding hands and shit, that's fine but. But I'd prefer it if you didn't kiss me, alright? Frank? Can you even hear me, Frank?!" 

Frank could hear him. Suddenly, he could hear everything. He could hear the tinkling of glass as the bartender rinsed out a used glass, could hear Ray and Bob argue on which was better: Star Wars or Star Trek, could hear the creepy, balding guy trying to hit on some other poor, unsuspecting guy; he could even hear the door being opened and shut, and a shame he turned to see who was leaving, he caught a glimpse of the back of a head full of thick, black hair and a flash of pale skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I got super invested in a series called Eyewitness (which y'all should check out, it's CRAZY AMAZING!) and another one called SKAM (which is also CRAZY AMAZING!) and I lost the will to write for a while there, but hopefully it's back and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. :)


	24. Chapter 24

He couldn't be jealous, Gerard told himself. He had no right to be jealous. Frank was young, Gerard couldn't give him to affection he wanted on public. Plus, he had been a dick to him earlier, so naturally Frank was going to be upset and want revenge, if that's what it had been.

But Gerard _was_ jealous. It hurt like _hell_ when he had seen Frank kissing that Brendon kid; he had gone in the hopes of seeing Frank and apologising, thinking they would be able to go back to the way they had been the day before, when they hadn't been fighting or disliking each other.

It had never hurt like that before when he heard any of his previous girlfriends or boyfriends had been cheating on him. It hadn't been this painful since he saw Bert kissing Leo Astor in eleventh grade back in highschool, and that had only hurt because he _loved_ Bert…

Gerard stopped moving, and for a while it also felt like he'd stopped breathing. He couldn't blink or breathe or move or _anything,_ because when he thought about that, it all made sense. He had felt differently about Frank from the very start, and it was only a matter of time before he figured it out.

Whether it was because he'd known Frank since the kind was fourteen years old or because Frank seemed to care about him - about pleasing him and making him happy - more than any other person Gerard had known, he had fallen in love with Frank.

He loved Frank Iero.

***

Frank ran all the way to Gerard's house. He had memorised the route by now, knew each bend in the road and recognised each individual door he passed. He remembered this route like the back of his hand.

He was still drunk - he was aware of that much - but he had to find Gerard. He had to apolosige and get him back, in that order, and he wasn't going to be able to do that in the club.

He had left without saying anything to his friends, without an explanation of any kind. They were probably worrying about him now, but there was no way he was going to turn back around to explain. He might already be too late; if he waited any longer he might lose Gerard for good, and he couldn't bear the thought of that. Besides, what would he say anyway? _'Sorry, I have to go. My illegal boyfriend just caught me kissing my fake boyfriend,'_? Yeah, _that_ would go down well.

Frank exhaled in relief when he finally arrived at Gerard's door. It was cold out and Frank was tired, the alcohol giving the sides of his vision a hazy blur that disorientated him. The lights were on, so Frank knew Gerard had arrived home by now. Without giving it a second thought, Frank pounded on the door with his fist. During the run here, he probably should have been thinking of things to say to Gerard - organising a speech that would make Gerard forgive him - but he hadn't, and now he was standing on the man's doorstep with a dry throat and no idea what to say.

Frank heard a clicking behind the door that sounded like the lock being turned and then the door was opening, revealing the hallway into the house and… _Mikey_?

For a while, all Frank could do was stare at him. His brain was working a little slower than usual, but the cogs were still turning and he was putting the pieces together faster than Mikey could form a word.

" _Frank_ ," Mikey stammered, looking around desperately as though something behind him could save the situation now. His eyes were wide and panicked and he started gnawing on his bottom lip. "C—Come in." He opened the door the rest of the way to allow Frank entry to the house. The younger boy walked forward cautiously, too drunk to argue.

"Gerard!" Mikey shouted, looking up at the roof. Soon after there was a clattering noise from upstairs and footsteps on the staircase. Frank had a sense of impending danger as the footsteps grew closer and closer. Everything would change once Gerard and Frank spoke… _everything_.

Gerard didn't look shocked or panicked like Mikey had when he first caught sight of Frank. He didn't look confused or bewildered like Frank had when he first saw Mikey in Gerard's house. He didn't look _anything_. His face was expressionless, his eyes blank and his mouth set in one straight, thin line. He didn't say anything, and Frank was damned if he was going to be the first to speak, so in the end Mikey broke the silence.

"Frank, this— this is… we can explain." He offered pathetically.

"You don't need to explain." Frank replied, never once looking away from Gerard. His eyes filled up with tears and he shook his head to get rid of them without attracting too much attention to his weakness. "I get it. I _get_ it. You— you tricked me."

"Frank—" Mikey tried, but Frank cut him off angrily.

"You got this guy to convince me that being in a relationship was the best thing I could do— you _seduced_ me and _fucked_ me and all this time you were _lying_ to me!" Frank couldn't hold it in anymore and a sob escaped his lips. For the first time since Frank arrived, Gerard began to show emotion.

 _Pain_.

Frank didn't know whether it was pain or guilt he was seeing on Gerard's face, but he didn't care. He needed to leave; he needed to get out of here where he didn't have to see the face of the man he lied to him, or the man who helped him. With one last question, he turned back to Mikey.

"So, just tell me then. Are you his real boyfriend? Were you two laughing at me this entire time?"

"No!" Mikey cried, shaking his head and stepping towards Frank hopefully, only to have the boy shuffle away from him. "I'm— I'm his brother."

Mikey hung his head, and Frank shook his. Gerard was watching them both with big eyes. He still looked beautiful, Frank thought.

"I have… I have to go." Frank said quietly, beginning to back towards the door. "I have to leave. I need to get home."

"Wait," Gerard began, reaching out with one arm but retracting it when he saw Frank was too far away for him to touch."You can't go out now! It's not— It's not safe." 

Frank scoffed and turned, running towards the door and flinging it open. He doubted either of them would chase after him or to try and stop him, but he didn't want to risk it and end up having to stay in that house all night. He was crying now, tears unashamedly pouring down his face as his legs carried him further away from Gerard and Mikey. 

After a while he stopped running, out of breath and his vision too blurred by tears to be safe. He doubled over and screamed once loudly. It had started to rain a long time ago and Frank was only in a t-shirt - which was completely soaked through by now - so he was shivering. Goosebumps were raised on his arms, and then the hairs on the back of his neck started to rise and he saw something move ahead of him.

There was the roar of an engine and the blazing yellow lights of a car, and then a _black_ _BMW_  driving towards him at a dangerous speed. The same black BMW that Frank had seen following him around for the last few weeks. Frank's breath caught in his throats and he was frozen in place, fear and adrenilne coursing through his veins, before he jumped into action.

He turned on his heel and ran in the other direction, back towards Gerard's house. Right now he would rather be in that house than out here where no one would see him get assaulted, so he pumped his legs faster and swung his arms to propel him further.

The sound of the car being turned off was unexpected and sudden, and Frank skidded to a stop. He turned around the see what was happening, and gasped as he saw the door opening.

And then who was climbing out of the car.

He didn't know why he was so surprised; he should have been expecting this. He should have suspected Daniel to be his "psycho stalker" ever since he first saw the car. He shouldn't have thought he could kick the man out their lives for good and get away with it without any consequences. 

He just wished he'd gone to the police about Daniel when he was still living with them, when he wouldn't get the crazy idea to follow Frank around in a black car with tinted windows in the middle of the night.

Daniel started running towards him and that was the end of it really. There was no way Frank could outrun him, but if he were able to go get to Gerard's house in time and get the two men inside to come out, then maybe Daniel wouldn't hurt him. Maybe he wouldn't hurt Frank if there were witnesses… 

" _Gerard_!" Frank screamed at the top of his lungs as soon as he was close enough that his boyfriend - ex boyfriend? - would be able to hear it. " _Help_! Gerard!"

Frank saw the door to Gerard's house creak open and someone stuck their head out— Frank couldn't tell whether it was Gerard or Mikey, but a little glimmer of hope sparked up in him. He was just about to open his mouth to cry for help again when there was an ugly sounding grunt from behind him - too close, he wasn't going to _make_ _it_ \- and something crashed down on his head.

For a second, Frank couldn't feel anything; no pain, no fear, no sadness, no heartbreak… and then all he could see _or_ feel was blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's shorter than the other chapters. :/  
> Enjoy! <3


	25. Chapter 25

When Frank woke up, he had no idea what time it was or how long he had been unconscious. It was dark, far too dark for him to be able to work out where he was, but it was cramped and jolted up and down every few seconds, so he made an educated guess and decided he was in the boot of a car. His hands were taped and he was unable to move his legs more than a few centimetres before they hit something solid.

The thought scared him shitless; what the _fuck_ was Daniel playing at?! This wasn't something he'd just get let off for— he wouldn't get off with a slapped wrist and seventy hours of community service to complete. This was _kidnapping_ and _assault_. He had knocked Frank unconscious and stuffed him into the boot of his car! The only way he would get away with this is if Frank didn't tell anyone, and the only way Daniel could silence Frank would be to _kill_ him.

And then Frank felt sick as well as terrified, because he knew Daniel wasn't stupid. Daniel wouldn't just go on a rampage and attack him and fucking _kidnap_ him if he didn't have some sort of plan to get away with it. That meant…

That meant that Daniel was planning to kill him.

Daniel was going to kill him.

Frank yelled and jerked his whole body, attempting to wriggle around enough so that his legs were facing the boot. That way he could at least try to kick open the door and roll out, but he would completely confined to his current position. His breath came in shaky gasps and tears began to prick at his eyes. He was going to _die_ — he was seventeen years old, he didn't want to _die_.

Why hadn't he gone to the police when Daniel first started hitting his mother and him? Why had he kept it a secret, explained away the bruises to Ray and Bob and anyone else that commented? Why hadn't he called the police when he first realised someone was stalking him? _God_ , he had practically put himself in this situation. It was his fault he was here; he only had himself to blame.

The thought made Frank cry harder, so at first he didn't notice when the the engine stopped. However, when he heard the car door opening and closing, and a set a footsteps approaching him, he really started panicking. He was still stuck in the same position, so when the boot was opened, the light being blocked out by Daniel's large form, he could do nothing but lie there and wait to see what would happen.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He whimpered pitifully, because it was the only thing he could think of to say. He might have tried reasoning with Daniel, striking a 'let-me-go-and-I-won't-tell' kind of deal, but one look in the older man's eyes told him that even attempting that would be useles. Daniel looked fucki crazy, and Frank knew there was no way the guy would let him go.

"Shut up," Daniel hissed, reaching forward to close his hand around Frank's upper arm and tug on it hard enough to yank the boy into a sitting position. The back of Frank's head was throbbing from where he must have been hit, and if he had been able to lift his hand up to touch the wounded area his fingers would have come away sticky with blood.

"Please," Frank started, but couldn't say anymore as sobs racked his body. He was going to _fucking_ die, and he never even got  an opportunity to say goodbye to anyone. His mother would wonder where he was, and after a while she might file a police report and then she would be devastated because her only child was dead. She'd be sad and alone, and Frank hopes to God she wouldn't do anything stupid like getting back together with Daniel or taking drugs like she used to, a long time ago. As for Gerard… Frank cried harder just thinking about it. He had just left, and Gerard probably thought he hated him. Frank hadn't meant to kiss Brendon, it hadn't been a conscious decision he had made, but that was what caused all of this. He should still be in that bar right now, getting shitfaced with his friends. Instead, he was in the boot of a car about to murdered by a psychotic asshole.

"Shut _up_!" Daniel repeated, emphasising his words by pulling on Frank's arm so hard that he tumbled out of the car and onto the rough ground underneath. "I fucking _knew_ you were trouble, the first time I saw you I knew you were just a pathetic, shining pussy, and I was right. _Look_ at you, fucking _crying_ like some _bitch_. I'm doing Linda a _favour_ getting you out of her life."

Daniel aimed one, harsh kick to Frank's side, driving the toe of his boot into the boy's stomach with as much force as he could muster. Frank cried out and writhed on the ground, curling up into a ball to protect himself. 

"Stop crying, you little shit. You deserve this— _you_ made Linda kick me out. That was _your fault!"_ This time his kick was aimed at Frank's head, and the teenager didn't have time to make a noise before his head was flung back. Pain exploded in his nose and mouth; Frank was pretty sure Daniel had just broken a tooth and his nose was most likely broken, but his hands were still bound and he felt too lightheaded to stand up on his own. There was no way he would be able to fight back. Shit, he couldn't even protect himself.

"F-Fuck you, _trash_." Frank spat, ignoring the blood running down his face and into his mouth. He cringed as he tasted the metalic flavour, and as it brought back bad memories. Immediately, Frank knew it was this wrong thing to say - Daniel had started kicking him almost twice a season hard as soon as the words let his mouth - but what was he supposed to _do?_! Roll over and _submit_ to that piece of shit? Just lie there and _take_  the abuse like there was nothing wrong with it?!

"Everything was going so fucking well - we were in _love_! - and then you had to go and fuck it all up like the stupid _bitch_ you are!" Daniel screamed at him, and Frank had to wonder how nobody had heard the man by now and come to save him. Then he realised that maybe they had; maybe they had heard Daniel and couldn't be bothered to help Frank.

Maybe they realised that it wasn't worth their time or safety to save a stupid bitch like Frank, and so they were just going to let him get hurt. They were going to leave him to get hurt… no one was coming to help him.

So Frank rolled over onto his other side, curled up again and took the abuse, like there was nothing wrong with it at all. 

***

Gerard was panicking, and because Gerard was panicking, Mikey was also panicking. This was causing Frank's _mother,_ whowas sat in Gerard's front room, to panic; and inbetween all three of them panicking, the police couldn't get _anyone_ to answer _any_ questions.

Mikey had called the police immediately after he came back inside the house, babbling something incoherent about Frank being unconscious and in the back of some freak's car. Gerard hadn't seen it happen, so at first he thought it was just some elaborate ploy Mikey had come up with to get Gerard to run after Frank, but then Mikey dialled 911 and then, _then_ Gerard knew they were in real trouble. _Big_ trouble.

Of course, Mikey hadn't actually thought about what they were going to _say_ to police until he'd hung up the phone, and then he just got more worked up until Gerard had to push his fears aside, lead his little brother to the sofa and sit him down, instructing him to take deep breaths until he had stopped hyperventilating.

What Gerard had been able to get out of Mikey when he was calm enough to talk for more than three seconds in a row was that he had gone outside the door, alerted by Frank yelling - Gerard fucking _hated_ himself for not hearing that - ans was just in time to see some asshole bring a baseball bat down on Frank's head. Mikey had gasped, terrified, and started running towards the car when the man had seen him there. He had started pulling Frank's body towards the car and was able to stuff him in the back and drive away before Mikey was even close.

And now the police were sitting in Gerard's living room, along with Frank's _mother_ for Christ's sake, and they all wanted to know why Frank was at Gerard's house in the first place.

That was the hardest question to answer; they had asked easy questions like, "what did the man look like?" and, "did you see what car he was driving?" but as soon as the final question had left the police officer's mouth - what had he been doing at his teacher's house at gone midnight? - Gerard's whole body went rigid and his tongue froze. He was sure Linda Iero noticed his discomfort, but she didn't comment on it. She was too busy sobbing into the sleeves of her baggy jumper.

"We…" Gerard started, before realised he had absolutely no fucking idea what to say and trailing off. He cast a terrified glance to Mikey who already looked horrified at the situation. "Frank and I are friends."

"Friends?" One police officer asked flatly, raising an eyebrow sceptically. Gerard didn't blame him for not believing him.

"I know it's not… appropriate, but Frank is just a nice person. I mean, the fact that he's a - _my_ \- student aside, he's a good person and we have similar interests and we're _friends_ , okay?! I don't see why you're focusing on this— Frank is _out there!_ He's out there _right_ _now_ and you're still sitting here asking _pointless_ fucking questions!"

"Sir, please calm down. We're going to do everything we can to find Frank." He then turned to Frank's mother, his tone changing to something appropriately somber. "Mrs Iero, are you able to come down to the station with us? We need to know if there is anyone who would want to hurt your son— from the sound of things, from what Mr Way has told us, this wasnt a random attack. If you know _anything_ , we need to know about it."

Mikey stop doing up from the sofa, hurrying the door to show the officers out. At first Linda stood up to follow the police out, but before she left the living room she turned back to Gerard and fixed him with a hard, intense stare.

"I need my baby to be safe." She said. Her voice trembled and she swallowed, taking in a deep breath and blown out the air slowly before she continued. "So if I find out he's hurt in any way, I will make you suffer as much as I will. Do you understand?" 

Gerard looked up at her through his messy hair, squeezing his eyes shut and nodding. His throat was top constricted for him to actually say anything, but the woman obviously wasn't going to leave until he answered. It seemed fair anyway; _he_ was the reason Frank was outside his house in the first place. _He_ was the reason Frank was out into the dangerous situation, and _he_ was the reason Frank was missing right now.

When Gerard looked up next, she was gone and he was left alone to wallow in his own suffocating guilt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapters are getting shorter and further apart every time I swear and I'm so sorrry for it.  
> Enjoy! <3


	26. Chapter 26

Sometime between Daniel's cigarette break and the second round of beatings, Frank had passed out and when he woke again he was back in the trunk of the car. This time though, his hands weren't tied and he was able to wipe at the trickle of blood on his forehead before it dropped into his eyes. His face was stained with dry tears and blood and some other substance that Frank didn't want to think about, and he felt disgusting. He was somewhat relieved to be able to use his hands, but compared to the all encompassing terror that engulfed him whenever he thought about what might happen to him, it didn't seem like such a good thing after all.

He tried pushing at the door but it wasn't budging and Frank gave up almost instantaneously. He was exhausted; he must have had at least two broken ribs and his nose was throbbing painfully— he was too weak to be pushing himself like this. 

He figured his only hope was to wait until the car stopped again and then attack Daniel when the man opened the door, kick him maybe or jump at him and try to strangle him… but then of course Frank's mind decided to fill his head with all sorts of horrible ideas. What if Daniel never stopped the car? What if he decided to do something crazy like drive off the edge of a cliff or smash them into another car at top speed? Or, even worse, what if he just parked somewhere remote where no one would think to look, and _left_? What if he left Frank all alone, locked in the boot of his car, and never came back. Frank would die of starvation or dehydration or not having enough oxygen or _something_.

They were driving for a long time, and Frank's theory about being dumped somewhere and left for dead was starting to look more likely, before the car shuddered to a stop. The boy's heart was thumping in his chest, adrenaline running through his veins as he shuffled in his position. He managed to move so that his feet were pointing towards the door and, hopefully, Daniel when the man went to open it. His back and neck were twisted in a horribly painful position but it would be worth it if he could get free of this terrible situation.

All of Frank's senses were heightened when he heard the driver's door open and slam closed. He was hit with a horrible sense of deja vu, remembering earlier when he'd heard the exact same thing and had then been dragged out of the car and beaten so badly he could barely stand. He couldn't let that happen again… he _wouldn't_.

As soon as the door was open wide enough, Frank launched himself feet first into the man that stood outside. Daniel, responded with a pained cry as the boy's feet connected with his face, creating a sickening _crunching_ sound. Frank gasped as pain tore through his chest from the sudden movement but couldn't allow himself to think about it for too long. This would all be over if he could just escape, fun far enough away that Daniel wouldn't be able to get him again, and he _couldn't_ let himself be slowed down by _pain_.

Scrambling out of the car as quickly as he could, Frank sucked in a breath and looked around. It was just starting to get light which told him that it was rapidly approaching dawn. That meant he must have been stuck in the cramped boot of the car for over _four hours_. He shuddered in horror at the thought.

Suddenly, Daniel's hand reached out and grabbed Frank's ankle, startling him and then pulling hard enough to knock him over. He was winded and couldn't stop a scream from passing his lips; he could practically _hear_  his broken ribs cracking even further. 

Daniel growled and crawled over to him, his face slowly covering with blood that must have come from his nose when Frank kicked him. His eyes were wide and crazed and his hair was falling into his face in a way that almost made him seem inhuman. 

"You're— fucking— _crazy_!" Frank yelled, holding his hands in front of his face as Daniel attempted to punch him with both hands. Making a split second decision, the boy let his hands fall to the ground and brought his head up so suddenly that it smacked into his attacker's face before he could see it coming. 

Daniel didn't make a noise when he fell to the floor, gasping and covering his nose with both hands. Frank wanted to exalt in this moment, laugh in Daniel's fucking _face_  and ask how _he_ liked it, but he was in too much pain himself. He almost passed _out_ from how much he hurt, and if his nose wasn't broken before it _definitely_ was now.

Aiming one last kick to Daniel's stomach - and watching in satisfaction as the man grunted and rolled over to protect himself - Frank turned and ran. It was almost dawn now, people would definitely be about, and all Frank needed to do was alert one of them. If he could get someone to call an ambulance or the police then he would just have to wait until he arrived. Then he would be safe… then he would be…

He passed out on the side of the road before he could complete the thought.

***

Linda was at work when she got the call. Whilst her boss had granted her yesterday off due to the initial shock of her son being fucking _kidnapped,_ the woman wasn't nice enough to let her have today off too and so she stood behind the counter of a run down 7/11 store shaking with nerves. It had just gone six in the morning - almost the end of her shift - when her phone began to ring, and she almost threw up when she didn't recognise the number.

Who would be calling her now? Would it be Frank's kidnappers, demanding a ransom for her son? Would it be the police telling her they'd given up looking for Frank and wanted to let her know? Would it be the city morgue saying they'd found a boy dead in a ditch somewhere that matched her missing son's description? Her mind whirled with all the horrifying suppositions.

"Hello?" She whispered after clicking to accept the call. Her voice would break if she spoke at a normal volume, she knew,and she was afraid. So, so afraid.

"Mrs Iero?" The voice on the other end asked, butchering her last name. She was panicking too much to correct them. Instead she choked out an affirmation and waited for them to continue. 

"This is the Beaver Medical Center of Pennsylvania. Your son was found about an hour ago and brought here for treatment; are you able to come here any time soon?"

For a moment, the world was suspended. Nothing moved, there was no sound, time stopped moving and Linda's heart stopped. Then all the breath in her body rushed back and she was moving out from behind the counter, out of the shop, out onto the street and straight for her car.

"Yes!" She cried, dizzy with relief. "Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again this took an unforgivable amount of time to write. I'm sorry!   
> Enjoy! <3


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight trigger warning for this chapter I guess? Mentions of suicide and outcomes of violence? Idk.

He looked like he was sleeping, Linda thought when she first walked into her son's designated hospital room, except he was covered in blood and dirt. Both were streaked down his face and matted into his hair; there was a wire attached to a machine sticking out of his arm and a bandage wrapped tight around his chest. She wondered how long it would have taken him to die, in this state, if he had never been found and taken to hospital. Then she shook her head to get rid of the thought; she didn't want to know.

She let out a shaky sob and covered her hand with her mouth, rushing to the bed to take Frank's hand gently. She didn't want to hurt him or dislocate any wires that might be saving his life, but she had to touch him somehow, just to make sure he was real and here and alive.

"Is he going to be okay?" She asked, turning her attention to the doctor that had accompanied her here. She wanted confirmation, and her heart sank in her chest when she saw the woman was reluctant to answer. That couldn't be good.

"He'll live - he's in a stable condition - but… it appears he was hit very hard on the back of the head. There may have been damage to the skull or the spinal cord resulting in possible temporary or permanent paralysis. As I said, we won't know anything for sure until we take X-Rays of his neck and we will need him to be conscious for that."

Linda looked away because she couldn't stand to see the look of pity the doctor was giving her, but it was just as difficult to look at her son lying unconscious in a hospital bed. _Paralysed_? What did that even _mean_? That he wouldn't be able to walk, or just turn his head? That he might never be able to move again, or that he might get the ability back after a while? How were they expected to live with that?— Frank was _seventeen_! He needed to finish high school and then go to university and then get a job, not get paralysed!

"Mrs Iero?" A new voice asked tentatively, and when Linda looked up she saw a man in police uniform standing in the doorway awkwardly. It was clear he was trying to be respectful but follow orders at the same time, unsure whether to give her time to process all that was happening or demand she follow him immediately.

"Could you come with me, please? We need to ask you some questions about a…" he trailed off as he snuck a glance at his notebook. "Mr Daniel Evans."

Frank's hand twitched and she gasped. Her face paled as she replied. 

"What has Daniel got to do with this?" At first she was confused, and then, after looking from Frank to the doctor to the police officer, she repeated it, this time with an underlying tone of aggression. She had figured it out, by then, and when she thought about it, it all made sense. Everything fit into place: black BMW, baseball bat, crazed kidnapper. Daniel. "What has _Daniel_ got to do with _this_?"

"Mrs Iero," the police officer repeated again, this time a little more insistent. "Could you please come with us? We'll need you to identify Mr Daniel Evans." 

The doctor turned around under the pretence of fixing the dosage on the machine next to Frank's bed, but it was obvious that wasn't what she was really doing. Linda couldn't tell whether the woman was eavesdropping or giving her some pretence of privacy, dno really matter to her.

"What do you mean, identify?" Linda scowled, her words clipped and icy. That motherfucker was going to _pay_ for what he did to Frank— he was going to spend the rest of his worthless fucking _life_ in jail. The officer looked from the doctor and back to Linda questioningly, as though to say, "she doesn't know?" before his mouth settled into a thin line and he fiddled with his belt uncomfortably. 

"Mrs Iero," he said for the third time. "We need you to identify Evans' _body_."

___

Linda was stuck answering questions about Daniel for the police for three hours. That was almost longer than she had spent answering questions about Frank's disappearance and it irked her that they seemed to be spending more time on that pathetic asshole than they did her son. Even though she knew, really, it was a good thing that they were so determined to close this case, she still felt that Daniel was getting off easy. Death was too light a punishment for someone so evil, for someone who had done such evil things to good people.

Whilst the police hadn't explicitly _told_ her how Daniel had died, it had been clear enough to see when she was asked to identify his body. One of the man's hands had been hanging off the side of the morgue table like something straight out of a horror movie, and the slit wrist had been a dead giveaway. 

Who was Daniel to her? What relation was he to Frank? What cause did he had to attack and kidnap her son? Why had she never gone to the police about Daniel's abusive behaviour before, especially when she knew it was a danger to Frank? Somehow, the officer asking her all of the questions made it feel like all of this was her fault, and she didn't need that. She already felt guilty enough.

Why _hadn't_ she told the police about Daniel's abusive behaviour? She _knew_ it was a risk to Frank, she let the man _hit_ her son for Christ's sake, and yet she kept quiet and let him get away with it because of some ridiculous affection she still felt towards him. She could have prevented this if she had just stood up for herself and for her family in the first instance, before it got out of hand.

She made her way back to Frank's room slowly, dragging her hand along the hospital wall childishly. She considered calling her mother, and then decided against the idea. She hadn't talked to her mother in over three years; she doubted the woman would appreciate being called up after all this time only to be asked to make a four hour trip. Then she considered calling Frank.

She hadn't talked to her husband in a long time— they had separated when Frank was so young and, save for a few times when he came to pick their son up to take him out for the day, she hadn't seen him since. That tradition had stopped a long time ago, and she doubted even _Frank_  had heard from his father in over a year. Even so, she thought, as his father he deserved to know about this.

It was a relief when she discovered that his phone number remained the same, and the phone rung all of four times before there was a click on the other end and a familiar voice saying, "hello? Linda?"

Linda suddenly found that she had no idea what to say. What should one say to their estranged husband who they hadn't spoken to in many years, to inform them that their son was unconscious in the hospital?

"Linda, what is it?" Frank said in a more patient tone than she remembered him ever using when they were still together. "What's the matter? Is everything okay?"

Tears pricked at her eyes and she couldn't, just couldn't, talk to him anymore. She couldn't stand the thought of him being understanding and sympathetic _now_ , when it wasn't too late to make any difference. 

"I'm in the Beaver Medical Centre in Pennsylvania. Get here as soon as you can; Frank's in trouble." She choked out and promptly hung up. She needed to get back to her son's room. Ignoring the ringing of her phone in her pocket, she picked up the pace and wasn't met with a sight she hadn't expected: Frank lying in bed with his eyes _open_.

***

Gerard made it through another three days at work before he was asked to leave. Word had gotten out about Frank's disappearance and subsequent reappearance, and the head master of the school had been informed that Frank had been at Gerard's house the night of the incident, and he supposed that was classed as 'inappropriate relations with a student'. Even though the police seemed to accept what Gerard had said about them only being friends but that was still deemed wrong.

Before he had been fired - not _fired_ , asked to _leave_ \- he had heard Frank's friends - Brendon and that Ray kid that he always hung out with - talking about how he was in hospital and they had gone to see him yesterday. He wanted to go too, wanted to see Frank, but he was afraid that that would  make everyone more suspicious of him. Now he was no longer working for the school though, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted.

He set off early so he would get to Pennsylvania by around ten or eleven and was soon pulling up in the hospital parking lot with his palms sweating and his heart beating erratically. He was horribly nervous; he had no idea how Frank would react to seeing him, how his mother would react to seeing him, and he even considered bringing his tatty messenger back that he took to work to protect himself in case Linda tried to attack him.

After asking at the desk and signing a visitor's form, Gerard hurried to Frank's room and stood outside the door for the longest time, debating with himself. He desperately wanted to see Frank, but if Frank didn't want to see _him_ then his visit could negatively effect Frank's mental health. Finally, his desperation won out over his anxiety and he pushed the door open.

Frank looked beautiful, he thought when he first saw him, just like he always did. Even with his hair greasy and his face pale and bruises covering his exposed skin, he was gorgeous. He was also staring at Gerard with wide eyes like the man had walked in completely naked. 

"Hey," Gerard said softly, staying in the doorway. He was too scared to walk any closer; he was also unbelievably grateful that Frank was alone when he got there. If Linda had been there, he didn't know what he would have said or done."How're you feeling?"

"What are you doing here?" Was Frank's only reply and yeah, he was definitely shocked. He couldn't hide anything, so all his emotions were displayed on his face for Gerard to see. First he was shocked, then confused, then excited, then angry, then neural. Gerard feared the last one most of all.

"I came to see you." The older man replied, even though that much was obvious. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well I'm fine." Frank said, his words clipped and too polite. It reminded Gerard of how you might act after seeing an ex soon after the relationship was over. He didn't like it. "Was there anything else you wanted?"

Gerard opened his mouth to reply before realising it wasn't really a question: it was Frank telling him to leave. He stepped closer and rested a hand on top of Frank's, not sure whether or not he should be relieved when Frank didn't pull away. He suspected that was more to do with the wire sticking out of his arm that wasn't supposed to be moved to vigorously than Frank's personal feelings.

"Seriosuly Mr Way." Frank gritted his teeth and purposefully avoided Gerard's gaze. "You should go—"

" _Jesus_ Frank." Gerard gasped, unable to hold anything back anymore. "I'm so fucking glad you're _okay_ … I didn't— I didn't know what to say when the police asked; I didn't see you get hit and I was so _scared_. Then I heard you got found and were okay and I was so _relieved_ , and I don't work at the school anymore and _shit_ , Frank, I'm so glad your _okay_!"

Frank was looking at him with wide eyes again and if Gerard wasn't mistaken he could have sworn he saw the boy's eyes welling up. He was about to say something else, maybe step closer and wrap an arm around Frank's shoulder if the positioning wasn't too awkward, when the door opened and Frank's mother walked in. She looked surprised to see him there.

"Mr Way." She said. "Hello."

"Uh, hi." Gerard responded nervously. He kept hoping Frank would say something, tell him to stay or his mother to leave, but he didn't. He just kept silent until Gerard was forced to incline his head and turn to the woman.

"I should go." He told her, repeating Frank's words. Then, to Frank, he said, "I'm glad you're okay."

When he was sat in his car again, he wrapped his arms around himself and rested his head against the wheel. That was how it was going to be from now on, he knew. Frank wouldn't act hostile towards Gerard, but it wouldn't go back to the way things were before either; everything had changed, and Frank was simply going to act like Gerard was nothing more than his old teacher. He was going to pretend their relationship had never happened— the thought made Gerard's heart constrict but there was nothing he could do about it now. He had fucked up, and now he was suffering the consequences.

***

Linda could guess what Frank's relationship with Mr Way was after seeing how they interacted with each other in the hospital room - the way Gerard had angled his body towards Frank and spoken to him so softly before he left told her enough - but she's was oddly calm about it. Frank, however, was not.

As soon as Mr Way left, Frank had started crying and had tried to turn onto his side in the bed which resulted in him ripping the wire out of his arm. After a nurse had had to come and put it back in again, Frank had turned his head to look at his mother. His eyes had been red and puffy and there were dried tear tracks on his face.

"Why did you never divorce dad, after you split up?" He asked, his voice choked up.

Linda struggled to answer. She didn't think, 'it wasn't worth the paperwork' was the kind of answer Frank was looking for right now. Instead, she smiled and took her son's hand.

"He never brought it up, so I never brought it up. I guessed I thought maybe it would just be a temporary thing and that we would work it out eventually, but we never did. And then it became harder and harder to talk to him, and it was too painful to bring up divorcing each other."

Frank processed this and then nodded, seemingly satisfied by her answer. She didn't know how that related to his relationship with Mr Way, but she wasn't going to ask. She was just going to be his shoulder to cry on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking there will only be 2-3 more chapters of this and then I'll focus on writing my Gabilliam fic! Yay! :D
> 
> (Also I've become strangely obsessed with Gabilliam so if any of you guys know any good (happy) Gabe/William fanfics then please tell me!!)


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry that this took so long to get out! I've been swamped with exams and I told a few people some important shit that I needed to get off my chest, but now I'm back so hey! Enjoy this chapter!

Seeing his father was a big deal for Frank, because he hadn't seen or heard from the man in a long time. The last he knew, his father was settling down with a new woman and making a new family, and he supposed his dad didn't want anything to do with his old family. It saddened him at first, but after a while he got used to it and it didn't really bother him any more.

So when he saw his father again the first day he woke up in hospital, just opened his eyes to see the man sitting there in the chair next to his bed like he'd always been there, it was only natural he couldn't not think of a single thing to say.

He'd already spoken to his mother, to the doctors and the the police before he was able to relax and fall asleep again. His whole body was throbbing slightly, the pain only being dulled by the painkillers the nurse had given him, but he was able to drift off and sleep for a good three hours before he woke to see his father.

They hadn't talked for ages, long enough that by the time Frank Senior finally spoke up, his son was on the verge of falling asleep again. He snapped to as soon as he heard his father's voice; unfamiliar enough to be an unwelcome shock in the quiet room.

"How have you been?"

They were four simple words that, under the circumstances, should have made Frank angry. They should have made him scream and shout and cry and flip tables until his father left him alone for good like Frank knew he wanted to. Instead, they just made him laugh. His shoulders shook and made the metal bed frame rattle where it stood. 

"Great, thanks." Frank replied, his voice hoarse. All of the blood had been cleared away by now, his face and hair no longer covered in the stuff, but his nose was still completely hidden by a large white bandage, and the sight of his wild, manic eyes caused Frank Senior to start laughing too.

At first it was just a shake of his shoulders, a twitch of his lips upwards, but soon he was laughing along with Frank.

And then he started crying.

Frank had never seen his father cry. He'd seen his mother cry plenty of times, especially after Daniel had left the house or retired to the bedroom in a huff, but he hadn't never, _ever_ seen his father cry. It was disconcerting and he didn't know what to do. So, after a few minutes of lying there chewing holes in his lip and listening to his father's broken sobs, he coughed and slowly sat up in his bed. 

"I love you, Dad." Frank said sincerely, because he had almost died the other night - almost been _murdered_ \- and he wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to anyone. He would have died without telling his father any of this, without telling him that he forgave him for leaving and he was sorry that he hadn't tried harder to keep in contact with him and that he loved him.

"I love you too, Frank." His father said. They settled into silence for the rest of his father's visit and, when the doctor came in again to take Frank's blood pressure or whatever doctors did, the man slipped out without another word. Frank wasn't particularly worried though— he knew now that, even if the man _had_ left without saying goodbye, it wouldn't be the last time Frank would see him. He would be back.

***

Frank had returned to school a week ago and Gerard, after having spent approximately a week and a half hanging around his house, watching reruns of soap operas and moping, was going crazy with the desire to see him. He at least wanted to be able to _see_ Frank, even if he couldn't talk to him or hear him speak. He knew how Frank had acted in the hospital, knew what it meant. Frank wouldn't hate him, would forgive him and wouldn't hold a grudge against him, but things would never be the same.

The boy would go back to treating Gerard just as he used to when they were just teacher and student, nothing more. He should never have crossed that line, should never have let Frank stay that night he first showed up, never have cornered him in his classroom and kissed him, fucked him, loved him, hurt him. _God_. If Gerard had just been able to follow the rules like everybody else, he wouldn't be in this mess right now and Frank wouldn't have had to go to hospital, he wouldn't be having to catch up on work to pass his exams because he had missed about two weeks of classes.

But he couldn't bring himself to regret it. If he could go back and in the past, he wouldn't want to change anything. He'd still kiss Frank, fuck him, fall in love with him and he'd still feel guilty about it but he would _not_ regret it. He just wished Frank would let him get close enough to talk about this… about them. He'd tried calling him a few times since the hospital visit, left about thirty unanswered texts with no regard whatsoever as to whether that made him look desperate or not, but Frank just ignored him. It was like Frank was trying to forget everything that happened between them.

Gerard needed to see him. He needed to see Frank because he was falling apart without the kid, and it had only been ten days. Granted, a lot had happened in those ten days, but they were enough to drain him completely. So it was really no surprise that, at four o' clock in the afternoon, he found himself once again lurking outside the school gates waiting for Frank. A lot of students gave him funny looks and he recognised many of them as his ex students - they would have noticed he wasn't teaching there any more and were probably curious as to why - but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. The only student he wanted to have anything to do with right now was short and cute and right fucking _there_ , in _front_ of him, _shit_.

He looked good, for someone that had spent the last week or so in a hospital. There was a fading bruise on his forehead, he had a visible limp and there were fading purple marks around one of his eyes, but otherwise he looked good. Great even. Beautiful.

He was walking with Brendon and Ray, and Gerard tried not to pay attention to the twinge of jealousy he felt whenever he thought of Brendon. He knew it was irrational and unfair and entirely untrue, but he couldn't help but feel that if Brendon had never been there with Frank that night - if he had never kissed him - then none of this would have happened. Gerard would never have run out, Frank would never have followed him and he would never have gotten kidnapped. Sure, Daniel would still be out there, a danger to society, but at least then Frank wouldn't be acting like they never had anything to start with.

Frank froze when he saw Gerard waiting for him, just stopped walking in the middle of the path. Brendon and Ray turned to frown at him, concerned - Gerard bet they'd been on his ass since he got back, looking after him and making sure he stayed out of harm's way, that should have fucking been _his_ job - but he didn't even spare them a glance. His eyes were locked onto Gerard's so intensely that the older man was reluctant to so much as blink.

Then, very slowly, Frank nodded at him and continued walking. It was overly polite and just the kind of acknowledgement you would expect a student to offer an ex teacher of his, but not an ex boyfriend. It hurt. 

"Frank," he said as soon as he was close enough to be heard. He didn't care about the rumours anymore, he didn't work at the school anymore so it wasn't a problem for him, but he was sure Frank wouldn't want this getting out. At least not to the whole school; his friends might be a different case. Brendon might be anyway. 

"Mr Way." Frank replied, ducking his head but otherwise not moving to leave. Gerard chose to see that as a good sign. Casting a glance at the other two boys to see Ray watching them very intently and Brendon tapping out a message on his phone, he took a step closer to Frank. Frank took a step back.

"How have you been?" Gerard asked for lack of anything else to say. Frank clearly wasn't going to make this easier for him, but he wasn't just going to let this go. He wasn't going to let _Frank_ go… not without a fight.

"Fine, thank you." For a second, Gee thought he was going to say something else - perhaps inquire after how _he_ had been since getting _fired_ \- but he remained silent, looking at the floor and kicking up dust with his shoes.

"I've missed you." He replied. A brief memory flashed in front of his eyes: Frank with his tongue down Brendon's throat, and a surge of jealousy made him look at the other boy again. He was talking on the phone now, muttering things like, ' _no, I'll meet you outside_ ,' and, ' _don't be silly, that will take longer_.' Gerard wondered who he was talking to, if it was someone he cared about. He wondered how Brendon would react if Gerard went and kissed them right in front of the kid, how hurt he would be… then he shook the thought from his head. He needed to focus on Frank.

"I don't think that's really appropriate, sir." Frank said meekly, like Gerard was just another teacher who seemed to be hitting on him. It _really_ hurt.

Gerard swallowed. "Frank, don't do this. Please?"

 _That_ got a real response. Frank's eyes flashed with anger and the older man took an involuntary step back. He wasn't likely to get _attacked_ by the kid, but it would still damage his ego irreparably if he took a load of verbal abuse from Frank in front of all his ex students.

"Don't do what, exactly? Don't lie to you and lead you on? Don't make you think that you actually meant something when all along I was just a… well. What was I, Gerard? A bit of fun? A way to pass the time? Whatever the fuck. Don't tell me what to do, okay?"

To his credit, Frank managed to keep his voice down for most of his tirade. By the time he was finished, red faced and chest heaving, only a few fellow students were watching them. Gerard guessed they would figure out why he had stopped teaching them now, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. All he could focus on was Frank, the fact that Frank thought that all he had been was 'a bit of fun'.

"Frank—" he tried to say, but Frank turned, dismissing Gerard with a wave of his hand.

"Whatever. I'm over it." He said, and with that he took a step closer to where Brendon was now waiting, having finished his phone conversation, and crashed their lips together in an unceremonious kiss. Gerard was reminded of the first time he had seen this exact same thing happen, of all the shit it had caused. Brendon's eyes widened and his arms flailed around widely, as if he wanted to push Frank off but wasn't sure whether that would be the best option. Ray was just looking from Frank to Gerard and back again with an expression of vague understanding.

Just as Gerard was about to turn and run, get out of this horrible, heartbreaking situation when there was a highpitched screeching sound and both Frank and Brendon were being catapulted to the side. Another boy looking about the same age as Frank and his friends was now lying splayed on top of Frank and struggling to push himself off the floor. When he managed to push himself up, he shuffled over to where Brendon was lying.

"What the fuck?!" He cried, sounding outraged. "You swore you wouldn't kiss him!"

"Ryan, _fuck_!" Brendon groaned, clutching his head. 

"Don't _Ryan_ me, we're leaving _right_ now!" Ryan spat, glowering in Frank's general direction. Brendon looked over sheepishly at Frank and Ray who were watching the scene unfold with wide eyes. Gerard considered backing away but decided against it. Whenever Frank wasn't looking at him, he didn't have that glazed over look of indifference in his eyes and, if this was the last time Gerard got to look at Frank Iero, he didn't want to remember him like this.

"Um, this— this is Ryan, guys. He's…" Brendon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm his boyfriend, you sneaky shit," he directed at Frank, "and we're leaving _now_."

With that, Ryan grabbed Brendon's hand and dragged him through the crowd that had gathered around them. When Gerard looked at Frank next, the boy rolled his eyes and shouldered past him. Gerard watched him leave, and then couldn't get out of there fast enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended to make this chapter all sad and depressing and then Ryan came into it and nothing I write is serious when Ryan is in it so…  
> This is the second to last chapter by the way, and the last chapter should be out sometime this week or early next week.  
> Enjoy! <3


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a horrible person, I was meant to update this ageeessss ago, but here you are.  
> This is the LAST CHAPTER of Surrender The Night! Wow, it's been a long journey and I'm getting all emotional, but I hope you've enjoyed this and I hope you go on to read more of my stories ('cause I'm shallow like that and yes that was a shameless self promotion.)   
> I'm gonna go before I start crying.  
> Enjoy! <3

Brendon, as it turned out, had a boyfriend. His name was Ryan Ross, he was sixteen years old, and they had been together for about a year. As soon as Frank propositioned Brendon, the boy had told his boyfriend everything and, whilst Ryan had agreed to it all, they had mutually decided that Brendon would not kiss Frank.

Brendon explained all this to Frank and Ray in a very long and rambling text message sent approximately half an hour after the fiasco at school. It hadn't crossed Frank's mind that Brendon might actually have a _reason_ for not kissing him, but now he thought about it, it did make sense. He sent a reply telling the guy to "calm the fuck down", and that he hoped he hadn't screwed anything up between Brendon and his boyfriend. He was still waiting on a response.

Frank himself had some explaining to do. There was no doubt in anyone's mind what relationship Frank and Gerard had had now - even an idiot could see there was something more than teacher-student relationship going on there and, despite what Frank often said, Ray wasn't an idiot - and Frank's best friend deserved to know.

It started off reasonably well, with Frank telling Ray how he had stumbled across his teacher's house by accident whilst he was trying to escape a beating from a gang of drunken assholes, and how Gerard had been nice enough to let him in and take care of his injuries. When he got to what he referred to himself as 'the classroom scene', he blushed and then, _then_ he may have missed a few details out. It didn't matter either way.

Ray got the idea.

When Frank thought before about telling his best friend about his illegal relationship, he had pictured it going one of two ways: either Ray would be disgusted with him, out him to the school and get Gerard fired, or he would be ridiculously interested in the whole thing and demand that Frank allow him to blackmail an A out of Gerard. Neither were ideal, but the latter was definitely preferable to Frank.

Not that it mattered now, anyway, but Ray's reaction was a lot closer to the latter than it was to the former.

" _Dude_ , and you didn't think to fucking _tell_ me?! I prefer to be _in the loop_ with my best friend's sex life, you know!" Ray bitched, all the while maintaining a trepidatious smile on his face. It was as if he didn't know how Frank wanted him to react and so he was purposefully playing it down. Frank appreciated that, even though it wasn't strictly necessary.

"Yeah well," Frank said, grinning ruefully even though he felt like curling in on himself and sleeping for days. Actually he felt like running over to Gerard's house and throwing himself at the man and telling him that all is forgiven and they can go back to normal now. He didn't, obviously.

"It's not like it matters now. It over, between us. Me and him, I mean. It's over." Frank sighed, trying not to let on how much the words affected him. _This must be love,_ he thought _, because why else would it feel like his heart was tearing itself to shreds inside his chest?_ All he could think was that Gerard lied to him, and Mikey lied to him, and they manipulated him and it was highly probable that none of their relationship had meant anything to the older man. That thought alone made Frank want to cry.

"Damn," Ray sighed, then grinned. He leaned forwards on his elbows, his hair tickling Frank's nose. "So… does this mean you banged your history teacher?"

Frank choked and went red, jerking away from Ray quickly.

"Asshole!" He cried, scrubbing his face with his hands to hide his blush. "You can't ask me that!" 

Ray pouted childishly, even though that answer was pretty damning to Frank's virtue.

***

Gerard was a mess. 

Since the scene at the school unfolded, Mikey had pretty much been living with his older brother, and the man was slowly driving him insane. It wasn't just that he never cleaned up after himself, that he never showered or that he left dirty laundry in the hamper for days on end. It wasn't even that he left take away boxes piled up on the coffee table in front of the TV - where he had kept up a permanent residence for the past few days - for so long that they were now completely obscuring any view of the television screen you could hope to have.

Worse than all of that was the fact that the man couldn't stop feeling so fucking _sorry_ for himself.

In between his search for a take away restaurant he _hadn't_ yet called and his constant moping, he would beg Mikey to visit Frank and find out how he was doing. Mikey tried explaining that there was no way in hell that was happening, but Gerard just didn't understand why. The younger man thought it may have been detrimental to his brother's mental health to explain that since they both lied to the boy and essentially pressured him into being in a relationship with his teacher, neither of them would be Frank's favourite person any time soon.

Mikey didn't know how much more of Gerard's behaviour he could take, and he fucking had it up to _here_ with his brother crying out, "he hates me!" It was a vicious cycle: Gerard would think about his ruined relationship and get sad, order take away and watch horror movies until he was reminded of how he and Frank got together in the first place and then he would get upset again. 

They could not go on like this much longer. Mikey was going to kill someone if it did.

"Get up." Mikey ordered, kicking at his older brother with his toe. "Now."

Gerard groaned and muttered something inaudible. He turned over onto his back to stare up at Mikey with a blank expression, unmoving until he got prodded by Mikey's foot again.

"Get _up_!" Mikey persisted, continuing adamantly until Gerard complied. "If you can't get over him, which you obviously can't, them you're going to have to get him back. I can't stand to see you moping and pining over a fucking _high school_ boy. It's sickening." 

"I can't, Mikey!" Gerard cried desolately. "You know what happened to him; he obviously doesn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"Yes, I know what happened Gerard." Mikey replied, his tone softer now. "I know, and it was awful. I _know_ that; but I also know that he's better now, and you're not. You helped him when he needed it even though it lost you your job, so he needs to fucking be there's for you. And he just doesn't realise that, so he needs a helpful push in the right direction."

Gerard cocked an eyebrow doubtfully.

"And you think you can be that push?"

Mikey snorted, shaking his head. "Obviously not, asshole. You are. Now get the fuck up or I'll go for your balls next time."

He lifted his foot up and hovered them ominously over Gerard's crotch. That was enough persuasion necessary to get him up at out of the door with no more than a sigh of relief and a hasty, "go get him, Tiger," from his younger brother.

He had no idea how to get Frank back, but he had to start somewhere.

***

The boys startled when there was a knock at the door. They had fallen into a comfortable silence since Frank had explained everything to Ray, and the only sounds now were of the TV. They had called for Chinese food, because neither of them could be bothered to cook something and Linda was out on a night shift again— after a few days off work taking care of Frank, she needed to go back or she would inevitably lose her job.

Ray clapped his hands together eagerly at the prospect of food and shoved Frank towards the door until he yelled that he was going in a resigned manner.

There was no one at the door. 

He hadn't been expecting that, honestly, and the fact that he had gotten up for nothing pissed him off. He was tired and cranky and hungry and sore and this had turned out to be some neighbourhood kids playing a prank; he wasn't _so_ not in the mood.

Then he looked down, and that's when he saw it.

It wasn't even in an envelope: just a folded piece of paper with his name written on the blank side and the dark ink bleeding jus about visible from the other side.

Frank's eyes widened and he lurched forward onto the doorstep, a vague sounding, "what the fuck," on his lips. If this was happening again, if someone was watching him _again_ … but he couldn't see anybody, and he had a door and a lock on his side. Ray was right there, indoors, and whoever had left the letter had written freehand without taking any caution to hide their identity.

He snatched the letter up and slammed the door behind him, locking it for good measure. He shuffled back into the living room where Ray was sprawled out onto the floor. His friend looked up and pouted when he saw Frank without food.

"Where's dinner?" He asked pitifully.

"No one was there," Frank replied distractedly, unfolding the paper to read it. "There was a letter, with my name on it."

"Yeah, well there are some sweet and sour noodles coming with _my_ name on them, so until they show up I'm too hungry to focus on reading."

"Asshole." Frank muttered, beginning to read under his breath.

_I know I fucked up, and we might never be able to get back what we had. I regret lying to you so much, but what's done is done. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me._

_Gerard_

_P.S. Mikey says sorry too. Just so you know._

Frank scoffed and let go, letting the paper flutter to the ground by Ray's head. He took the opportunity and picked it up, reading it curiously. His eyes lit up when he got to the bottom.

"Holy shit, Frank!" He cried gleefully. "Is this from your actual teacher _boyfriend_?!" 

"Ex boyfriend." Frank muttered, pretending like the letter didn't make his heart hurt.

***

"How'd it go?" Mikey asked as soon as Gerard skulked through the front door, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his hoodie. "Did you talk to him?"

"Shut the fuck up." Gerard snarled, brushing past him and heading for the kitchen. He needed coffee, like, _now_ , even if it meant he wouldn't sleep at all tonight. It wasn't as if he had anywhere to be in the morning anyway; he could stay in bed as long as he wanted in the morning… sleeping, binge watching repeat episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S and mourning his lost relationship.

"I'm guessing that's a no?" Mikey shrugged. "No biggie. Next round will be easier; he might even listen to you this time."

"Next round?" Gerard repeated. "No. No, no, no, no, no. Not happening. I've embarrassed myself enough thanks to you, I'm not submitting myself to anymore of this."

Mikey rolled his eyes, and Gerard was reminded of when they were kids and how his younger brother was always the more responsible one. He was always the one who had the right answer and who knew what to do in any situation - even situations that included how to work the oven - and this time was no exception.

He sighed. "What do I have to do?"

Mikey smirked. 

"I have a few ideas."

***

The next letter came in the post, so thankfully it didn't give Frank a panic attack. He didn't know whether to find it irritating or endearing that Gerard didn't want to show his face yet, and sending letters was quite cute. If Frank was into that. Which he wasn't anymore.

_Frank,_

_I remember the first time I saw you. You were fourteen, I think, or fifteen. Shit, that makes me sound like a creep. It didn't start like that, I promise. You were waiting for one of your friends to leave my classroom and someone came along and called you a queer. You didn't do anything to him, you were just standing there minding your business, but he insulted you all the same._

_I was about to step out of my classroom and yell at him, tell him off for using that word as an insult, but you caught my eye and shook your head. By that time he was already gone, but I couldn't stop thinking about you. You didn't even reply; that was how much what he said bothered you. You didn't let it get to you, and I was impressed. Then I go at you in my class two years later and I had completely forgotten it by then. I only remembered that the other day— I've been thinking about you a lot recently._

_I miss you and I'm sorry._

_Gerard_

Lindalookedup from where she was sat in the armchair next to Frank and said, "Why are you smiling?"

Frank shrugged. He didn't realise he had been.

***

Brendon was there the next time he received a letter. Ryan had been stressing out over his upcoming exams and Brendon had thought it was a good idea to get out of there before something got broken. They hadn't seen each other much at school lately and they had both agreed they needed to hang out.

So when an envelope fell through the letter box - a real envelope this time - Frank had to explain his whole sorry relationship to one of his friends for the second time. He started with That Night and ended with The Letters. Except this one wasn't a letter: it was a memory stick.

They rushed into Frank's bedroom and plugged the memory stick into his computer, waiting impatiently for it to load. Brendon thought the whole thing was very romcom-esque, and Frank wouldn't admit that he had come to look forward to Gerard's letters.

There was only one file on the memory stick: an audio file, so Frank turned on his speakers and clicked play. He was hoping it wasn't something embarrassing, because he didn't need something else for Brendon to hold against him, but luckily for both of them it was a piece of music.

There weren't any lyrics, and Frank didn't recognise it, but it was beautiful. Only a couple of minutes long, it had Brendon clutching his heart in a mocking, "aww" kind of way, and there may or may not have een tears welling in Frank's eyes, but that was beside the point.

This time, he didn't hide his smile.

***

"So are you finally getting through to him?" Mikey asked innocently, stirring a plastic spoon through his frozen yoghurt. "Are you winning back his heart?"

Gerard snuck a glance at his phone: no missed calls, no texts. He was disheartened, but he wasn't ready to admit defeat just yet.

***

It had been a week, and so far there had been no more letters. No more songs, no messages, no nothing. Absolutely no word from Gerard, and Frank was missing it. He couldn't believe he ever thought he could make it without Gerard.

He was dressed in batman pyjamas and his hair was messy when he heard the knock on the door. He half expected it to be his father who was supposed to be dropping by today, but if it was he would have been three hours early. He scowled and prepared to give whoever was on the other side of the door a piece of his befuddled, eight-in-the-morning mind. He wasn't expecting it to be Gerard.

He froze, his eyes wide and his fingers tightening around the door. Gerard looked equally as frightened, not knowing how Frank would react. He swallowed thickly, attempting a smile.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi." Frank said shortly, promptly forgetting how to speak.

"I'm sorry." Gerard told him earnestly, sounding so sad that Frank felt a pang in his chest. A slow smile spread across his face and he blushed, looking down at his bare feet before looking up at Gerard from under his eyelashes. 

"I know." He replied. Gerard blinked and then smiled, just a little, just the corner of his mouth twitching up a little, but it was real and it was there and Frank felt whole again from having the man he loved so close to him again after spending so long apart.

"So," Gerard began, "I know this is going to sound crazy, but can I come in for a second?"

Frank took a big breath, exhaled, and smiled.


End file.
